PARIVISION disqualified from Europe RMR over banned coach involvement*

Multiple staff members and a coach permanently banned from Valve-sponsored events were present in the room during at least one of PARIVISION's games in the EU RMR closed qualifier.

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17:15 Update: PARIVISION rifler Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov has since commented on his team's disqualification, describing it as "the most ridiculous and sad situation in a career (if not in life)."

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Perfect World, the organizers of the Shanghai Major, have announced that PARIVISION have been disqualified from the Europe RMRs due to having a Valve-banned individual present during their closed qualifier campaign.

With PARIVISION's disqualification, the final spot in the Europe RMRs will be decided via a three-team single-elimination bracket.

BLEED, Monte, and KOI will fight for the final RMR berth on offer as the three squads finished Closed Qualifier A with a 2-3 record, with BLEED receiving a bye into the final decider match due to having the highest Bucholz score of the trio.

PARIVISION found itself in the crosshairs after a video of their post-match celebrations was posted on social media following their win against GamerLegion in the 2-1 qualification match. In the now-deleted footage, the team was surrounded by multiple staff members, including their coach, Ivan "⁠F_1N⁠" Kochugov.

Not only is it against Valve's Major rules to have team staff present in the room for online matches in the Major cycle, but F_1N is also banned from participating in Valve Majors entirely. Despite that, sources told HLTV that F_1N was submitted as PARIVISION's coach as part of their official lineup, which indicates an oversight on Perfect World's part.

Valve's Major rulebook, section Stage Integrity, sub-section Team staff restrictions says:

"In the case of any matches where event admins are not physically present (e.g. online matches), no team staff, including the coach, may be physically or virtually present or communicate with the players at any time during the match."

F_1N was one of over 30 coaches suspended in 2020 for using the infamous coach bug, which could give an unfair information advantage to the user. The 40-year-old was found to have used it in six official matches for 34 rounds, enough to earn a permanent ban from Valve, while the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) barred him from their member events for nearly nine months.

"It should be noted that Valve bans are by default the highest priority eligibility-related ruleset in any official event," reads Perfect World's statement. "When these bans are well-known and established beforehand, as was the case here, it is expected that all teams should follow these eligibility rules prior to any further participation in an official event."