Danish esports team Astralis has been in trouble after the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) fined the team over the emergency substitution of Alexander “br0” Bro in the BLAST Fall Final in September.
The problem is rooted in the fact that Astralis added Casper “cadiaN” Møller as the in-game leader only after the team used a “medical emergency” as an excuse to replace br0. However, br0’s agent, Fabian Broich, later posted on social media that the rifler was healthy and ready to play, which caused outrage among other teams and fans. BLAST had already approved the substitution despite rosters being locked, which led to several team captains to boycott the tournament’s media day and call for an investigation.
ESIC Investigation Causes Both Positive and Negative Responses
ESIC then made their report public after conducting a formal investigation and determined that BLAST had cleared Astralis’ substitution without verifying the authenticity of the “medical emergency.” The commission accused Astralis of not explaining the situation, saying that the organization “took advantage of the confusion and did not immediately clarify the mistake to BLAST.”
Astralis has been fined $15,000 USD which ESIC will donate to the Psykiatrifonden Danish Mental Health Foundation chosen by the commission. Also, Astralis will lose the $10,000 USD prize money they won during the tournament.
It is regrettable that the ruling and decision of ESIC does not contain the legal responsibility of the employer to safeguard its employees in a delicate circumstance. We consider the ruling hereinafter, but we continue to state that our actions were compliant with the Danish employment laws where appropriate.
However, the controversy was further fueled when ESIC decided that the substitution “did not affect the material interest of the tournament” because Astralis failed to go past the group stage. This justification has been the subject of criticism.
Community Backlash: “Disband and Leave Your Jobs”
The esports community has been particularly quick to criticize both Astralis and ESIC over the ruling. Most people think that the punishment is mild and it will encourage other people to engage in the same behavior. Another well-known commentator Michael Cassidy, aka YouM3, said that more severe measures, including the removal of Valve Ranking points, should have been taken.
Casting veteran Dustin “dusT” Mouret did not mince words:
You are a joke at this point, imagine using tournament results in your decision making.
HLTV journalist Luis Mira complained that the result of the tournament influenced the penalty, stating that it is the “principle and use of rules” that should be the most important. Meanwhile, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, captain of FURIA, went as far as to call for resignations:
Get out of your jobs — leave your presence in our community.
What’s Next for Astralis?
Although the competitive season is almost over after failing to qualify for the Shanghai Major RMR, the aftermath of the BLAST controversy still lingers on the organization. Br0 stays on the bench and the consequences of this decision may influence the future of emergency substitutions for teams.
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