Cover-Credits:
Team Spirit, the champion of The International 2023 (TI12), rightfully found itself at the center of attention in the Dota 2 community. While it was basking in the glory of lifting the coveted Aegis of Champions for the second time, there was also some buzz around the team and adult content creator Eva Elfie.
Eva Elfie revealed that, after winning TI12, Team Spirit rejected her addition of $25,000 USD to the prize pool. In a recent livestream, Team Spirit's manager Dmitry "Korb3n" Belov reportedly shed some light on why the team rejected Eva Elfie’s addition to the TI12 prize pool.
Team Spirit’s Reason for Rejecting Eva Elfie’s Contribution
Eva Elfie had initially pledged to add her OnlyFans earnings starting from 27th October to the prize pool of TI12. In just three days, she revealed that she raised $20,000. In addition to this, she added another $5,000 USD from her pocket to contribute a total of $25,000. However, Team Spirit's management declined the offer.
In her Telegram channel, Eva Elfie noted, “I asked the winning team how to transfer the money to them, but they refused. I completely understand them and I ask you not to judge anyone. This is sports and not every organization is willing to associate themselves with stories like this.”
Following this, there was not any official statement from Team Spirit’s side until Korb3n weighed in. According to a cybersport.ru report, during a recent livestream, Korb3n reportedly explained the team’s position and said, “It's just weird. Why do we need to PR [publicize] someone? It's just some cheap PR, so we just said no. Why? You want to fill up the TI prize money? Buy compendium levels. Everything else is just a bunch of bulls***."
[Translated using DeepL]
With Team Spirit's refusal, Eva Elfie is faced with the decision of how to allocate the $25,000. She took to social media to ask her followers if she should donate the money to the runner-up team, Gaimin Gladiators, or use it to organize her own tournament.
Eva Elfie was not only an observer but an active participant during TI12. She engaged with the community at the venue and also publicly supported Talon Esports before switching her allegiance to Team Spirit after Talon's elimination.
Notably, Team Spirit took home $1.4 Million USD after its win at TI12.
