ESL evaluates conflicts of interest from Road to Rio participants

23-4-2020 21:17

ESL has indicated that it is currently evaluating the conflicts of interest reported by the participants of ESL One: Road to Rio.

In a Twitter post, the tournament organizer added that it has messaged teams asking for clarification and admits that it could take "further action" depending on the nature of the additional information provided.

The announcement came just 24 hours after HLTV.org and Globo Esporte reported that Valve would not immediately act upon conflicts of interest between the teams participating in ESL One: Road to Rio, one of the four Regional Major Rankings (RMR) tournaments acting as qualifiers for this year's Counter-Strike Major, for the sake of reigniting the discussion about the sensitive topic of multiple team ownership.

Valve shared with HLTV.org the declarations of interest from 19 teams competing in ESL One: Road to Rio. The documents confirmed that there are close ties between MIBR and Yeah, two teams who will face each other later on Thursday in Group B of the North American division.

MIBR coach Ricardo "⁠dead⁠" Sinigaglia and team member Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo are among the owners of Yeah, though they allegedly do not make any decisions on the company's behalf. The Immortals Gaming Club, MIBR's parent company, holds the option to buy out at most two of Yeah's players in a calendar year for a set price in exchange for an annual fee.

Evil Geniuses coach Wilton "⁠zews⁠" Prado owns a 25 percent stake in Yeah, which raises the possibility of another conflict of interest, though the North American giants can only face the Brazilian team if they both make it out of the groups.

Another conflict of interest in ESL One: Road to Rio, this time in the European division, involves Dignitas and Ninjas in Pyjamas as Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund owns a minority stake in his former team, with the two Swedish giants set to square off on Friday.

With Valve stating that it was looking to give the community the opportunity to discuss the conflicts of interest in the scene, it remains unclear what prompted ESL to consider taking action. HLTV.org has reached out to the tournament organiser for clarification.

Good

2020-04-23 21:17

2 replies

expected

2020-04-23 21:18

1 reply

yikezzz

2020-04-23 21:23

LOL

Flashpoint ownership conflicts?

lul

2020-04-23 21:19

So what?

RIP Mibr Valve trying to save Fer, Fallen and Taco for a humiliating elimination from qualifying.

Ban mibr

2020-04-23 21:20

4 replies

Flag checks out

2020-04-23 21:30

3 replies

nt simp

2020-04-23 21:31

Stop using that stupid word

2020-04-23 21:38

its my first time using it wtf

hahahaha valve valve...

2020-04-23 21:22

1 hour before the game, GG carmac

carmac only manages iem tournaments i think

2020-04-23 21:49

FFS It’s just A Game!

2020-04-23 21:26

With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line

2020-04-24 00:48

2020-04-24 14:29

Its not just a game.

2020-04-24 01:27

Rofl, ever since millionaires started investing it's been a business, not a game.

2020-04-24 10:50

Hell yeah

2020-04-23 21:29

Players playing against team which they own.. yeah no conflict there at all

2020-04-23 21:37

they should just sell their shares to their mother and its all fixed

2020-04-24 10:55

Probably orglees players crying.

2020-04-23 21:39

we wont be able to tell though if Taco is throwing

2020-04-23 21:40

50 minutes before the match KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

2020-04-23 21:42

expectd

Expected

2020-04-23 21:43

There is no conflict, ESL TwoFaced needs to schnauze

2020-04-23 21:59

I dont understand? How is owning shares / or join ownership a problem? They can't make decisions, they just make profit

2020-04-23 22:15

6 replies

because you are playing against yourself in some shape or form, that may influence decisions.. you could lose on purpose and bet on your second team, shit like that

2020-04-23 22:37

5 replies

You could bet against your own team and throw regardless of ownership of the opposing team, referencing iBP.

2020-04-23 23:28

sure, but it's even easier and a sure thing if you own both teams :D

2020-04-23 23:30

True but would you really expect mibr to throw? They are all legendary players and they wouldnt risk getting banned

2020-04-23 23:51

you'd be amazed what people do these days, integrity has gone down the tube long time ago

2020-04-24 00:01

Dazed had ties to netcodeguides

2020-04-26 17:06

The "conflict of interest" is just a terrible tier 6 team playing against their bosses LUL

2020-04-23 22:16

is this etc etc brasil

2020-04-23 22:19

Stupid.

2020-04-23 22:28

Glad to hear at least ESL has some brain.

2020-04-23 22:45

well they are still letting the games happen so its irrelevant saying anything lets just pay attention to betting patterns etc.

2020-04-23 23:10

Lite late to evaluate it now !!! They are already playing against each other.

2020-04-23 23:25

wtf

2020-04-23 23:36

Leave it to the pros trying to make bank to fuck the whole proscene up :D

2020-04-23 23:43

Technically dead and taco are assisting the scene actually by helping a lower tier Brazilian team who may not have the funds to compete otherwise. The conflicts just need to be managed. It’s a difficult situation and an uncomfortable one for taco and dead more than anyone else

2020-04-24 00:49

This aged well

2020-04-23 23:53

I mean... If anything, this is ESL's fault, they're the ones who put mibr and Yeah on the same group

2020-04-24 00:20

Yes,its their Fault. I don't understand why it's an issue now. Just before the match, as if MIBR or Yeah made a mistake. I guess this post means, ESL is evaluating their rule book.

2020-04-24 00:29

Decisions about groups can’t be made taking that into account though. The end result of that would be buying a .05% stake in the big teams so you wouldn’t have to play them in groups.

2020-04-24 00:50

Highly doubt that this method is financially viable, since you would lose to those big teams in playoffs immediately.

2020-04-24 12:26

Of course. It was just an example of what could happen at the extreme end of this if this was correct. You do have to remember though that for some orgs making it out of groups is a huge win money wise. They don’t need to win the tournament for it to be seen as hugely beneficial to their org

2020-04-24 14:23

If spend money on shares, it doesnt matter anymore, how big of a team you are. You need to make the money, which you spent on shares, and just being out of groups wont get you anything near what 5-6 teams' relevant share is worth.

2020-04-24 15:19

You’re completely missing the point

2020-04-24 23:50

322 incoming

2020-04-24 01:00

LET THE BOOYYSSS PLAAAAAYYYY!!!

2020-04-24 05:06

GTR conflict is too low that it should matter. I mean if he would lose vs NIP with purpose he would probably lose money. MIBR and YEAH is a fucking joke. You saw yesterday YEAH was throwing as much as possible. ESL can't guarantee fair play there so the only conclusion is to say they have to choose which teams play.

2020-04-24 07:39

Either there is a rule or there isn’t! Because of this Optic is disband...

2020-04-24 08:18

evil geniuses north american "giants" lul

2020-04-24 09:58

Ban all team!

2020-04-24 11:37

twitter.com/dekay/status/125305989604552.. The old statement says: "leagues with shared ownership by multiple teams". This means Flashpoint and it's founder teams should also be targeted.

2020-04-24 12:15