Virtus.Pro Allegedly Threatened With Disqualification From Gamers Galaxy Tournament
Virtus.Pro (VP) who were set to compete in the GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022 has claimed that it was threatened with disqualification from the tournament. VP claimed that the organizers of the tournament presented its Dota 2 players (arriving in Dubai for the event) an ultimatum: "Either your club issues a public statement regarding the situation in Ukraine, or you get dropped from the tournament.”
The GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022 is currently scheduled to kick off on March 2nd. Virtus.Pro is one amongst ten teams that were invited to this event.
Virtus.Pro makes serious allegations against GAMERS GALAXY organizers
At the time of writing, neither Virtus.Pro nor its parent organization ESforce holding has made a statement addressing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is seemingly causing issues for the team in its latest tournament outing.
According to VP, the organizers of GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022 threatened to announce that the team's players have COVID to bar them from competing in the event. An alternative suggesting that the team plays without its jerseys and team branding was also presented. This was also rejected by VP.
VP alleges that this decision was forced upon GAMERS GALAXY by WePlay who are organizing the tournament. WePlay Holding, headquartered in Ukraine, recently issued a statement announcing that it is terminating all partnership agreements with companies from Russia.
As far as we know, Nigma Galaxy SEA are in a dependent status themselves: their contractor in organizing GAMERS GALAXY is WePlay, and the Ukranians forced this decision upon them, threatening to sabotage the event. All of that despite the fact that the tournament is being hosted in UAE - the country that is remaining neutral regarding the situation in CIS."Virtus.Pro
The Russian organization denounced this decision and stated that it will not tolerate this behavior from WePlay. "We do not support any war there is or ever was: in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or any other. But forcing someone to take a public stand does not lead to peace, but instead it drives people further away from each other and fuels hatred," it added.
VP stated that it had never prohibited it's players or employees from expressing their personal opinions on this matter and cited some instances of its players exercising this right.
Virtus.pro ended its statement by stating that it would not fall for this intimidation. It stated that it won't take off our jerseys in this tournament and will speak for itself when it finds it appropriate. "Short-term interests and emotional outbursts are not what we base our public statements upon, but rather long-term strategy and the spirit of the club," it added.
Note: AFK Gaming has reached out to Nigma Galaxy SEA and WePlay for clarification and comments on the current situation. Their statements will be added if or when they respond.
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