MIBR fined by Flashpoint for "breach of competitive integrity"

Future evidence of a team watching the broadcast during their official match will result in disqualification, the organizer has noted.

Flashpoint has announced that they have handed MIBR a fine for "breach of competitive integrity", which comes as a result of having a television playing the stream of their game against OG in a place visible to the players during the game. The Brazilian side won the series 2-1 and advanced to the upper-bracket semi-final of the event.

For their fine, MIBR will have $10,000 deducted from their Flashpoint 2 prize winnings, which will be donated to a Brazilian charity after the conclusion of the event.

The infraction happened on Tuesday, with the team's coach-manager Raphael "⁠cogu⁠" Camargo putting out a statement the next day, stating that he "forgot to turn the stream off during the first match", but did so after a friend messaged him and pointed out the issue.

"Because of the massive delay, I didn't think that this could be a problem", cogu wrote. "After thinking about it, I agree that I did it wrong". The 35-year-old added that "this will never occur again".

On Thursday, following cogu's statement, the tournament commissioner Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles announced the fine and revealed that despite long delays on the stream which are put in place to limit the information teams can gain from watching the broadcast, Flashpoint "still find MIBR's actions to be a breach of competitive integrity in our event".

In addition, all Flashpoint teams have been notified that any future broadcast-watching infractions will result in disqualification.

MIBR's fine follows ESIC's Tuesday announcement regarding stream-sniping, with the esports watchdog noting that they won't take action on past cases despite "widespread" use, but will enforce a zero-tolerance stand from that point onward.