Admin
Mar, 03.2022
In a recent Twitter post, Blast Premier, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) professional and engaging esports league, put out its decision to debar any Russian-based team from participating in any of its events for the immediate future.
This comes at a time when Russia is involved in a war with Ukraine, with the former facing international sanctions for its brutal military operations in Ukraine. The esports and gaming community has also come together to support Ukraine at its hour of crisis with many organizations taking required steps to single out Russia following its inhumane actions.
In addition to this, the event organizer has also called off the CIS qualifier which was scheduled to be held in the last week of March 2022. They apologized to fans and players for the same, stating it to be an inappropriate time for the event. “Gaming and esports unites people from all races, countries, and beliefs,” Blast said. “We hope the situation on the world stage reflects this as soon as possible.”
This ban however doesn’t include any teams having players of Russian origin with Natus Vincere permitted to take part in the event despite having 3 Russian players in the team, only because it is a Ukraine-based esports organization. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, the well-known player for Natus Vincere, said: “All of us want peace for Ukraine and the whole world” in a rather emotional speech on 25th February at IEM Katowice. He also donated $33,000 to help the Ukrainian army protect their country.
As the war enters its 6th day of mayhem, it has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and soldiers. Amidst this invasion, WePlay Holding the Ukrainian esports holding company announced that it is ending all partnership contracts with companies from Russia and its ally Belarus. Many players and organizations have also flooded social media platforms with heartfelt messages condemning the invasion.
