The Danish org were issued a fine for the emergency substitution, but is it enough?
Danish esports organization Astralis have copped a fine by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) for the emergency substitution issue raised at the BLAST Fall Final back in September.
Alexander "br0" Bro was moved to Astralis' bench prior to the event after the late addition of Casper "cadiaN" Møller as in-game leader. The reasoning given: br0 was undergoing a "medical emergency" and cadiaN's debut with Astralis had to be moved forward.
However, br0's agent Fabian Broich posted on X/Twitter at the time that the rifler was fit and ready, sparking controversy over BLAST granting permission to Astralis to make the substitute after rosters were locked for the event. Multiple team captains from rival squads boycotted the tournament's media day, demanding a formal investigation into the substitution following the event.
That investigation concluded today — and many were unhappy and perplexed by the results.
Early exit at BLAST Fall Final prompted a reduced sentence, according to ESIC
The full 12-page document went into more detail but in the summary, ESIC determined that BLAST "accepted Astralis' substitution request without sufficient validation" and made assumptions based on the team's findings directly.
ESIC also called upon Astralis' lack of explanation or correction of BLAST's validation. "Astralis benefitted from the misunderstanding and did not promptly correct BLAST's miscommunication," the commission said.
As a result, the commission has fined Astralis $15,000 USD, which will be donated to the Psykiatrifonden Danish Mental Health Foundation, a charity nominated by ESIC. Astralis must also forfeit the prize money the team won at the tournament — an additional $10,000.
"We are disappointed that ESIC's ruling and decision does not include the employer’s legal obligation to protect its employees in a sensitive situation," Astralis said in a statement. "We take the ruling into account, but we maintain that our actions were in line with applicable Danish employment laws."
The fine and forfeiture of prize money is all well and good, but many have taken offense to ESIC's closing remarks. The commission states br0's substitution "did not materially impact the outcome of the tournament as Astralis did not progress beyond the group stage."
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"Disband [and] leave your jobs": Community weighs in on soft ruling
Many believe the punishment to be a slap on the wrist and does little to discourage teams from attempting something similar in the future. Commentator Michael "YouM3" Cassidy believes harsher punishment, such as the loss of future Valve Ranking points, is deserved.
"Imaging using tournament results in your decision-making — you are a joke at this point," caster Dustin "dusT" Mouret said. HLTV journalist Luis Mira was also frustrated that results at the tournament made an impact on the decision. "It's the principle and the exploitation of riles that should matter," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Others were more scathing of the outcome. FURIA captain Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo echoed dusT's sentiment: "Leave your jobs — quit your presence in our community," he said.
Br0 remains with the Astralis roster on the bench, but the squad have all but wrapped up their competitive season after elimination at the Shanghai Major RMR.
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