In the lead-up to the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 tournament, a cloud of controversy looms over the participation of team Azure Ray who received a direct invite to the tournament. On 28th November, Lu “Somnus” Yao along with Yang “Chalice” Shenyi and Xu “fy” Linsen left Azure Ray. To fill in the void left by these three players ahead of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, Azure Ray brought in Guo “Xm” Hongcheng, Zhao “XinQ” Zixing, and Lin “Xxs” Jing. The team’s decision to change three players has drawn criticism from Team Spirit manager Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov, who contends that this move violates ESL rules, potentially warranting disqualification.
Krob3n’s Demand for Azure Ray Disqualification
Expressing his discontent on his Telegram channel, Belov stated, “I’m waiting for ESL to officially announce Azure Ray’s disqualification from the Malaysian tournament. Rules do not allow three stand-ins. Don’t tell me these are not stand-ins but the new roster players.”
According to news outlet Escorenews.com, Belov’s sentiments were echoed by Aldar “Jamba” Dzhambinov, an ex-9Pandas manager, who, while supporting the complaint, expressed skepticism about any significant consequences for Azure Ray. Dzhambinov remarked, “There will be no such announcement,” implying that official invitation information might sometimes take precedence over the rules, citing a past incident involving Alliance.
In case you do not remember, the Alliance incident involved accusations of unfair play when its coach provided calls during a game against OG. This situation led to a scandal, emphasizing the delicate balance between adhering to rules and considering official invitation details.
Guo “Xm” Hongcheng, Zhao “XinQ” Zixing, and Lin “Xxs” Jing have officially joined Azure Ray, they are technically not a stand-in for the tournament.
The official ESL Pour Tour (EPT) rules state that if a license holder (team) loses over 40% of its starting lineup, the administration can review the license and, if the team cannot convince ESL about its ability to continue in the event on a similar level of play, possibly withdraw it. It adds, “This scenario only applies after invites have been issued and accepted for a given event; otherwise the rules governing the world rankings apply with regards to license assignment.”
This is not the first time Azure Ray has locked horns with an Eastern European team. Earlier, during the Bali Major in an upper bracket series between BetBoom and Tundra Esports, BetBoom’s Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko was caught tabbing out to watch a stream which was a clear violation of the rules.
Following this, Azure Ray demanded the disqualification of Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko, after which Pure was disqualified and replaced by Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok for the rest of the tournament.
Notably, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 is scheduled from 11th to 17th December in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and will feature 12 teams competing for a mighty $1 Million USD prize pool.
