ESL replies to Russian protest

Today it's time to bring some light into the darkness of the ENC match between Russia and Portugal last Sunday. There are several rumours and false information circulating; therefore we want to share our point of view about the match and the problems.

On Wednesday, 7th of April the admins opened a protest for the specific match to hand over some general information to both teams. Those information included a link to the rulebook (even if it is linked in the menu of the ENC website), the default date (13th of April), deadline of the match, map choice etc pp. Until the 12th of April there was no reaction at all from anyone involved in this match, but on this day Portugal stated that they couldn't play on the default match date and therefore asked to reschedule the match to any other date within the week. Later in this day we informed both teams that they have to agree on a new match date till the end of the day.

On the actual default date of the match, Portugal once again tried to get in contact with Russia and stated that they are unable to play. Later I tried to get in contact with Russia as well because so far they never posted in the protest stating what they wanted to do. During the time of the default match time at 20 CET nobody was online to discuss anything. Due to no reaction from Russia at all, this could easily be handled as no-show. But as both teams weren't available at the default date, we decided to just give Russia 3 Minor Penalties as they never posted anything in the Protest nor were they online during the default match time. 

One hour after the default time, Russia posted in the protest that they were ready to play the match (but obviously they weren't online during the default time, so I don't know how they were ready). In this post they also agreed to play the match on Sunday and suggested 20 CET as no time was suggested by Portugal before. After that we forced the match to Sunday, as both teams agreed on the day, and told both teams to agree on a time.

After some discussions they tried to reschedule the match again to Monday, which was after our deadline and therefore not possible. Right after we told them that it's not possible, both teams agreed to play on Sunday at 22 CET.

It is true that Portugal was a bit late on Sunday, but to keep up a good level of fair play the admin still tried to find a fair server where both teams have an equal ping. After several testings both teams couldn't agree on a server and therefore the admin picked a French server where both teams had the most equal ping. 

Portugal handed in an official protest about illegal settings within 72 hours after the match and therefore within the protest period. We checked this and found out that one of the Russian players used net_graph during the match. The usage of net_graph will be punished with penalty points and a rematch (You have seen before that several matches had to be replayed due to net_graph). 

Therefore we told both teams that the match has to be replayed and that the default date and deadline for that is Thursday at 21 CET unless both teams agree to play the match earlier.

As you all know, Russia made a big statement/protest about the match on Monday night. After we reviewed their points we also decided that Portugal will get 6 Minor Penalties for being late and a warning for other rule violations. It was the first time on Monday night that Russia complained about those things and therefore we did not punish these rule breaks before. An official protest is always needed. Additional to that, with the public statement Russia broke our rule “2.4 Non-disclosure of internal information” and therefore they will receive three additional minor penalties. 

To mention the match between Spain and UK as well, one of the UK players forgot to re-start his Aequitas (ESL Anti-Cheat Tool) before the match and therefore he didn't use it during the match. That's why the match has to be replayed as well.

I hope that everyone can understand the situation a bit better now and that we will see some more great, exciting and fair matches within the ASUS European Nations Championship.

Two days ago, Russia's ENC team manager handed in a protest against Portugal as he found their match was not fairly forfeited. The ESL has now replied to their protest.

On the 18th, Russia and Portugal faced off in the fourth qualifying round of the ASUS European Nations Championship, where Russia came best out with a 2-1 score. Portugal filed a complaint according to the configuration clause, and ultimately the match was forfeited.

Tournament director, Alexander "crtmN" Nehr, has now replied to their protest:

Today it's time to bring some light into the darkness of the ENC match between Russia and Portugal last Sunday. There are several rumours and false information circulating; therefore we want to share our point of view about the match and the problems.

On Wednesday, 7th of April the admins opened a protest for the specific match to hand over some general information to both teams. Those information included a link to the rulebook (even if it is linked in the menu of the ENC website), the default date (13th of April), deadline of the match, map choice etc pp. Until the 12th of April there was no reaction at all from anyone involved in this match, but on this day Portugal stated that they couldn't play on the default match date and therefore asked to reschedule the match to any other date within the week. Later in this day we informed both teams that they have to agree on a new match date till the end of the day.

On the actual default date of the match, Portugal once again tried to get in contact with Russia and stated that they are unable to play. Later I tried to get in contact with Russia as well because so far they never posted in the protest stating what they wanted to do. During the time of the default match time at 20 CET nobody was online to discuss anything. Due to no reaction from Russia at all, this could easily be handled as no-show. But as both teams weren't available at the default date, we decided to just give Russia 3 Minor Penalties as they never posted anything in the Protest nor were they online during the default match time. 

One hour after the default time, Russia posted in the protest that they were ready to play the match (but obviously they weren't online during the default time, so I don't know how they were ready). In this post they also agreed to play the match on Sunday and suggested 20 CET as no time was suggested by Portugal before. After that we forced the match to Sunday, as both teams agreed on the day, and told both teams to agree on a time.

After some discussions they tried to reschedule the match again to Monday, which was after our deadline and therefore not possible. Right after we told them that it's not possible, both teams agreed to play on Sunday at 22 CET.

It is true that Portugal was a bit late on Sunday, but to keep up a good level of fair play the admin still tried to find a fair server where both teams have an equal ping. After several testings both teams couldn't agree on a server and therefore the admin picked a French server where both teams had the most equal ping. 

Portugal handed in an official protest about illegal settings within 72 hours after the match and therefore within the protest period. We checked this and found out that one of the Russian players used net_graph during the match. The usage of net_graph will be punished with penalty points and a rematch (You have seen before that several matches had to be replayed due to net_graph). 

Therefore we told both teams that the match has to be replayed and that the default date and deadline for that is Thursday at 21 CET unless both teams agree to play the match earlier.

As you all know, Russia made a big statement/protest about the match on Monday night. After we reviewed their points we also decided that Portugal will get 6 Minor Penalties for being late and a warning for other rule violations. It was the first time on Monday night that Russia complained about those things and therefore we did not punish these rule breaks before. An official protest is always needed. Additional to that, with the public statement Russia broke our rule “2.4 Non-disclosure of internal information” and therefore they will receive three additional minor penalties. 

To mention the match between Spain and UK as well, one of the UK players forgot to re-start his Aequitas (ESL Anti-Cheat Tool) before the match and therefore he didn't use it during the match. That's why the match has to be replayed as well.

I hope that everyone can understand the situation a bit better now and that we will see some more great, exciting and fair matches within the ASUS European Nations Championship.

As a result of this, the match will have to be replayed. Scheduled time and date is tomorrow at 21:00 CET.