NAVI CEO Talks About Future of Russian Players on the CS:GO Roster

Natus Vincere (NAVI) being one of the largest Ukrainian esports organizations has been vocal about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Initially, the organization was impacted by the violent invasion but its operations are slowly returning to normalcy, however, the future of Russian players under the organization might be affected going forward.

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, NAVI's CEO Yevhen Zolotarov spoke about the future of the organization by stating that "We (NAVI) are not going to work with people who live in Russia and who pay taxes to the Russian Federation".

Zolotarov went on to say that they are ready to help relocate those players who do not share the same mindset as that of the Russian Federation's politics, as he went on to comment about NAVI's CS:GO roster that has three active Russian players as part of it.

NAVI's CEO hopes to keep the current CS:GO roster together

Ahead of NAVI's participation in the ESL Pro League Season 15, the organization's CEO has come forward to talk about the future of this team as well as all the Russian players who are currently competing under its banner.

Yevhen Zolotarov has made it clear that they are not going to work or associate with any person who lives in Russia and pays taxes to the Russian government.

"We (NAVI) won’t be able to work with players who will live there (Russia) and will pay taxes there. So, we are ready to help relocate players who don’t share the Russian Federation’s politics," expressed Yevhen Zolotarov

Zolotarov confidently said that all their major rosters across multiple esports titles will "remain the same". However, some teams from a couple of smaller disciplines associated to mobile titles will "definitely disband".

He went on to speak about the confusing situation the organization currently finds itself in concerning its Dota 2 roster, while also stating the following about its CS:GO team, "We hope that we are going to keep this roster and that the Russia-based players are going to relocate".

NAVI's current CS:GO team consists of three active Russian payers - Denis "electroNic" Sharipov, Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhaylov, and Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy. The organization is ready to relocate these players from Russia in order for them to continue competing under its banner, so it seems it is up to the players to decide how they wish to proceed from here on out.