Cover-Credits:
After Global Esports suffered a loss against Enigma Gaming at the Western Digita (WD) Black Cup: Season 3 - King of the Hill event, The Esports Club (TEC) co-founder Ishaan Arya made a remark about Global Esports saying “so much for taking a break to play directly in the final.” He was referring to Global Esports’ direct entry to the finals of the WD Black Cup as the team represented South Asia at the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Asia-Pacific (APAC) Challengers event earlier this year and wanted to take a break after that.
The team competed directly in the finals against Enigma Gaming and lost 3-0, which led to the comment by Arya. The comment upset Global Esports CEO Rushindra Sinha, and he wanted to end all professional ties between Global Esports and The Esports Club in current and future events. Sinha changed his mind on the matter but called out the “toxic” nature of the comment by Arya.
Sinha’s reaction to Arya’s comments after Global Esports’ loss
After Arya made the comment, Sinha stated on Twitter that Global Esports will be pulling out and cutting all ties from present and future events from The Esports Club as long as Arya is associated with the brand. Sinha said, “It’s not the first time and it wouldn’t be the last, he’s done this too many times - and when I see my players having to come to their own defense like this just because they choose not to play in ONE of the hundreds of godforsaken events these guys host so they can focus on them.”
Since Valorant’s release Velocity Gaming and Global Esports have dominated Indian esports and they have been the most successful Valorant teams in the country till date. While the competition has started to open up with Enigma Gaming rising as the third contender for the title of “best Valorant team in India” , Global Esports is the only team that has represented India on two separate occasions on the international stage.
Global Esports had unsuccessful runs at the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers in 2021 and it could not secure a qualification spot for Valorant Masters Reykjavik at this year’s first APAC Challengers event. The team is under a lot of pressure and it is currently rebuilding itself with a new coach Hong "Eraser" Chang-pyo.
After calling out Arya on Twitter, Sinha clarified that he talked to The Esports Club’s founder (Vamsi Krishna) and has resolved the issue. He stated, “TEC is not responsible or to blame for the actions of one individual, it is sad that a well-reputed org needs to apologize on his behalf.”
Arya issued a public apology stating, “I realize my position within the Esports ecosystem comes with responsibilities & I will strive to do better and be better. I apologize to the community, this isn't the example I want to be setting and of course my team at The Esports Club for taking away from their hard work.” He clarified that the tweet to which Sinha took offense to was a joke and not a direct attack on Global Esports.
Sinha called the apology a “joke” and said that Arya has a history of making “toxic remark against toxic remark against people and orgs and teams.” He added, “treating every team equally and respectfully is something every single TO (Tournament Organizer) and Publisher does regardless of win or loss, participation or abstaining from doing so, we are both here for the same reason .”
He ended his statement saying that if this is how Arya is going to treat teams, orgs, players and creators, he would rather not be part of the ecosystem even if The Esports Club hosts a Valorant Champions Tour event.
