One of the most recent and brutal events in Dota 2 occurred between Akbar Butaev from AVALUS and Ammar Al-Assaf from Team Falcons during the PGL Wallachia Season 2. The altercation allegedly happened in the hotel lobby in Bucharest, Romania, before their match was scheduled to take place.
According to initial reports, the confrontation began when SoNNeikO (Akbar Butaev) allegedly put his arm around ATF (Ammar Al-Assaf) and threatened to physically harm him. The fight is said to have started due to an online argument, and both team managers and staff had to intervene to stop the escalation.
The event came to light when PGL, the event’s host, posted about it on their social media pages. However, rumors about the incident had already spread online before the official announcement. In their statement, PGL confirmed that AVALUS would face a draft penalty due to the incident, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.
PGL’s Statement: “AVALUS has been given a Level 3 Penalty for the whole series against Team Falcons (-110 seconds bonus time on the Draft) due to SoNNeikO and ATF fight in the hotel. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior because our tournaments promote fair play and respect for one another. The case has been investigated and necessary measures have been taken to maintain the credibility of the competition. All the participants are required to be professional in and out of the stage. #PGLWALLACHIA”
Following PGL’s statement, ATF and Team Falcons released their own version of events. ATF explained that the conflict stemmed from a ranked match that took place three months ago, during which he insulted SoNNeikO, calling him “braindead.” ATF believed the online exchange was just banter, but the confrontation became serious when they met in person at the hotel.
ATF’s Statement: “Just to clarify what happened: 3 months ago I was playing ranked game with SoNNeikO and in the game I said he is braindead. He threatened me on X after the game and I thought he was joking when he said it. Today he came to me in the hotel lobby, put his arm around me and began to threaten to punch me and put me on the ground (xd?). I replied, ‘Please punch me.’ He just stood there and kept threatening me, even though the manager of AVALUS, the coach, and the players were telling him to stop. I guess he did this because he can’t beat me in-game.”
In response, Team Falcons accused ATF of contemplating pulling out of the event following the altercation. Nonetheless, Falcons continued to compete and ultimately won their match against AVALUS 2-0. Many believed that even without the draft penalty, Falcons would have triumphed.
As of now, there has been no official statement in English from AVALUS, who have been posting only on Telegram and VK. Esports.net has reached out to AVALUS for comment but has not received a response yet.
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