Cover-Credits:
Following a drama-filled day, IO Esports announced that BetBoom Team’s offlaner Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko will be disqualified from the remainder of the Bali Major 2023 and that BetBoom Team will be playing the rest of the tournament with Roman "Resolut1on" Fomynok as its stand-in.
This decision comes in response to Pure's violation, where he was found watching a livestream during the series against Tundra Esports. In light of this breach, IO Esports has taken the step to nullify BetBoom's previous victory against Tundra Esports and impose the disqualification of Pure from the rest of the tournament. Consequently, the team will be utilizing Resolut1on as a stand-in player for the duration of the competition, a run which has since come to an end as the team lost to Azure Ray in an elimination match.
BetBoom had initially shared a tweet stating that Resolut1on would be playing with the team for the remainder of the tournament, but subsequently deleted the tweet.
BetBoom Twitter
However, BetBoom later released a statement on its telegram handle addressing the situation. The organization acknowledged Pure’s mistake, however, states that the punishment is too harsh and that it had sent a formal request to Valve in order for an “unbiased solution”.
BetBoom Team would like to officially express their position regarding the recent situation that arose in the match against Tundra. We acknowledge that a short alt-tab from the game suddenly occurred during the match. We acknowledge the violation of the rules, but we are confident that there is no malicious intent on the part of Ivan "Pure ~" Moskalenko.
We want to emphasize that the incident could not have had a serious impact on the almost two-hour meeting - it happened at the ninth minute.
BetBoom Team do not agree with the severity of the punishment applied to our team. We have already sent a formal request to Valve and are awaiting a response. We rely on Valve to consider our request with due diligence and provide an unbiased solution. BetBoom Team is ready to work with The Bali Major organizers, Valve and all stakeholders to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again in the future.
While waiting for a response from Valve, Ivan "Pure~" Moskalenko will be temporarily replaced. BetBoom Team will be represented by Roman "Resolut1on" Fominok.
BetBoom Team hopes that the situation will be resolved fairly and taking into account all the circumstances.
-BetBoom Team's Telegram Statement Translated by DeepL
The disqualification seems to have had an impact on the players' mental state. Specifically, Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek, the position 5 player for BetBoom, exhibited frustration during the series against Azure Ray following Pure's disqualification
TORONTOTOKYO's emotions seemed to be directed towards the Azure Ray players, as he questioned their actions by saying, "Why u force the admins to disqualify Pure? U scared to play against our full roster?" and then expressed his disappointment, stating, "sad, I respected you.".
