Professional players and casters agreed that it is unacceptable for eSports athletes to behave this way. In particular, Evil Geniuses player Gustav s4 Magnusson noted that Ceb is a renowned personality in Dota 2, and a simple apology is just not enough.
Many noted that Ceb often crosses the line in public. Meanwhile, RuHub studio commentator Mila “Mila” Aliyeva added that the the incident occurred because the Frenchman was unable to control emotions. She further stated that Ceb one of the kindest personalities in the community. The manager of The Pango, Igor BadPlaya Gorevoy, spoke out a little differently on this point. He agreed that it was difficult to hold back emotions in matchmaking. Yet also suggested that the organizers of EPICENTER Major 2019 should not pay for accommodation and meals for OG players.
spicy drama
— Peter Dager (@Peterpandam) May 24, 2019
Team Spirit player Ilya “Illidan” Pivtsayev compared the situation with Debs with the scandals around Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavova. He said that the player should not be punished for making harsh statements in the game, and also noted that Valve should treat all such precedents equally.
Dota 2 analyst and trainer Yegor JotM Surkov explained why the players have a desire to insult an opponent or teammate in a match, and also told why you shouldn’t do that. He also expressed the opinion that Valve should introduce certain rules, and should not punish anyone before enforcing them.
Solo delivered an ultimatum to Valve
The most interesting statement was made by captain of Virtus.pro Alex Solo Berezin. He said that he would refuse to speak at EPICENTER Major 2019, unless Valve commented on the scandal involving Ceb. The player also expects the company to better control such situations on the Dota 2 professional scene in the future. He also highlighted previous incidents including MinD_ContRoL’s rage on the Russians and Kuku’s getting banned from a competition after racial comments. The captain of VP said that he himself has mistakes and paid the price. So it is only understandable that Valve takes a strong action against Ceb.
My thoughts on Ceb’s racist comments:https://t.co/4W81yOLqqQ
— Aleksey Berezin (@dotaSolo) May 24, 2019
In June, 2018, Team Liquid Ivan Ivan MinD_ContRoL Borislav was involved in a controversial situation. He raged out on teammates from Russia and asked in a chat room why Hitler did not kill the Russians. The organization imposed a penalty on the player and obliged him to transfer funds to a charitable foundation.
In November of the same year, the Chinese community accused Carlo Kuku Palad of racism after insulting a Chinese player during a match. As a punishment Valve banned Palad from participating in The Chongqing Major.
We believe that Solo is right and Valve should really act on the matter. Since these incidents are getting quite common and discourage the prosperity of the eSports industry. At the time of this writing Valve is yet to comment on the matter. But in a couple of days we should expect a strong response. Who knows, they might even introduces some ethical rules and regulations for eSports athlete in the future.
