Image Credits: PGL
Following David “Godz” Parker and Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao's Tweets about Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Andrei “Skem” Ong getting banned from the upcoming Chongqing Major, several other prominent Dota 2 personalities and Pro players corroborated and offering their opinions and elaborating the issue.
We all have a weight in how this game moves forward so let's act while being conscious of that. What punishment, who's relevant to apply it, these are the only topics. & they should be driven by a long-term respect vision, not heated & emotional reactions. Lets not go backwards
— 7ckngMad (@7ckngMadDOTA) November 24, 2018
Just to briefly highlight the big picture of things. Esports and Dota bring people together.
— Eri Neeman (@erineeman) November 24, 2018
Doing this achieves the exact opposite.
They screwed up. They were punished. Give these kids a chance to be better.
The world already has too many walls. Let's not add more.
Individual tournament organizers cannot be allowed to ban players from DPC events. If there is another Major in the Philippines, do they get to ban Chinese players in retaliation? Valve absolutely must step in.
— Nahaz (@NahazDota) November 24, 2018
Malaysian Dota 2 player, Jian Wei "xNova" Yap who is currently playing for Chinese team PSG.LGD liked a Tweet from Henrik "AdmiralBulldog" Ahnberg. Shortly after, he posted an explanation for why he liked the Tweet and clarified that he considered Racism to be wrong and that it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Its a habit of mine to like tweets that I am interested in following, so it would be easier to follow the tread, and it does not reflect my consensus on this topic. I did not expect that this action would result in this misunderstanding.
— xNova (@xNovadota) November 24, 2018
I have been treated really well and I hope that this misunderstanding would not affect my relationship with all of you. I hope everybody can understand my intentions and I ensure that such situations would not occur again. Thank you.
— xNova (@xNovadota) November 24, 2018
Team Secret’s manager and popular community figure, Matthew "Cyborgmatt" Bailey was the first to state that the ban issued to Kuku and Skem wasn’t only a rumour. He also added that coL and TNC were contacted and were given a chance to kick the players before they were officially banned.
Against the wishes of many teams, the major is still scheduled to go ahead in Chongqing at this moment in time.
— Matthew Bailey (@Cyborgmatt) November 24, 2018
The teams also believe that it would not be fair to punish TNC with DPC penalty points (-40% for a standin) if Kuku is refused entry into the country.
However, coL’s manager Kyle “Beef” Bautista refuted the allegations and claimed that Cyborgmatt must have gotten confused.
I spoke with two contacts in China a few days before Valve's statement to better understand the situation, but at no time has ANY third party pressed us to drop the player.
— Kyle Bautista (@coL_Beef) November 24, 2018
Cyborgmatt still maintained his stance. However, he clarified that the main issue was not Skem being kicked, but the fact that a LAN event of the DPC is being threatened by a local government.
Ignoring the fact that an org doesn't want to admit to bending under external pressure.
— Matthew Bailey (@Cyborgmatt) November 24, 2018
The most important point still remains, both players are banned from competing in the LAN stage of a DPC event by the local government who will refuse to let the event run if either attend.
He also added that the TNC organization is quite worried about the future of the event, as well as Kuku’s career.
Valve has already been contacted by both the organizer of the major as well as TNC who are both understandable very upset and concerned about what this means for the overall event and the future of Kuku's career.
— Matthew Bailey (@Cyborgmatt) November 24, 2018
At the time of writing, neither Valve nor the Chongqing Major organizers have made any statement regarding this issue.
