Dogie Expresses Frustration Over SIBOL's Penalty After H2wo's Hospitalization

Nexplay EVOS’ substitute pro player and popular streamer, Setsuna “Dogie” Ignacio expressed his frustration over the penalty received by his team during the second round of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) SIBOL Qualifiers Phase 2. During the tournament, Nexplay EVOS met with an issue where its jungler John Paul “H2wo” Salonga was rushed to the hospital due to a medical emergency. This led to Nexplay EVOS receiving a penalty with Blacklist International being granted the win in the first match of the BO5 series. Dogie stated he is not happy with the organizers of the tournament prioritizing its livestream over the health of its participants.

What happened behind the scene during the Nexplay EVOS and Blacklist International match in the MLBB Sibol Qualifiers Phase 2

According to a vlog posted by Dogie, the team tried to negotiate with the tournament organizers to see if the match could be delayed just enough for H2wo to get his treatment at the hospital.

“He (H2wo) said to me, ‘Dogie my stomach hurts!’ I thought he was joking, but we asked the marshal if they could delay the match for at least an hour to send him to the hospital and get treated,” stated Dogie.

He also mentioned that the substitute players allowed in the MLBB SIBOL Qualifiers were not enough. For him, a six-man team is not enough, teams should be allowed to have at least 10 players in case of emergencies.

Dogie and the squad contacted someone to discuss their options for the tournament as they were lacking a core player. While the contact’s name was not revealed, he explained that due to the ruling of the SEA Games, the team could only have five main players and two substitute players.

“That’s the ruling of SEA Games Vietnam, a 10-man team is not allowed. If this was SEA Games Philippines, it can be a possibility,” stated the undisclosed contact.

The negotiation eventually resulted in Blacklist International being granted the first win of the match as Nexplay EVOS was penalized due to H2wo's absence. According to the undisclosed contact, this was the final decision of the tournament officials.

“The officials called in and stated their decision. It’s because we (Nexplay EVOS) weren’t able to inform them in advance that H2wo needs to be sent to the hospital,” stated the undisclosed contact.

He added that the officials asked why Nexplay EVOS did not say anything during their check ping (the time where every team checks in if they’re ready to start the match) given that H2wo was unwell at the time.

Dogie explained this by stating, “Before the match started, H2wo could handle the pain. But then, later on, he started collapsing. He was willing to play but he kept collapsing,” stated Dogie.

He then revealed his frustrations over Blacklist International receiving a free win despite the medical emergency. The team also has a medical certificate as proof of legitimacy. “It’s fine, but next time, please consider the health of the participants,” added Dogie.

The undisclosed contact on the other end of the call stated that he tried to defend the situation but the League official had already made their final decision. “They prioritized the broadcast of the game live over the health of the kid (H2wo). It hurts man,” he said.

H2wo was able to return to the Bootcamp before the third match started. The pro player played in hopes of pulling off a reverse sweep against Blacklist International. However, the match closed with a final score of 0-3, in favor of the M3 World Champions, resulting in Nexplay EVOS falling to the lower bracket.

SIBOL addresses the H2wo incident

The Sibol Facebook page issued its official statement towards the issue of Nexplay EVOS’s penalty.

According to the post, the rulebook stated that teams who failed to show up 15 minutes before the scheduled match may receive a complete disqualification. However, since Nexplay EVOS’s absence was due to one of its pro players being rushed to the hospital, the penalty was reduced to a one-game penalty, leading to Blacklist International being granted the win for the first match.

“Unfortunately, due to the delay of communication, the ruling was relayed to the NXPE and BLCK just as they were about to begin their rescheduled match at around 11:40 GMT+8,” stated SIBOL.

The organization apologized for the confusion caused by this miscommunication and promised to relay its rulings and other important information to all parties involved, in the future.