This matter is far from ending.
BLAST has requested the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) run a "formal investigation" into Astralis' emergency substitution at BLAST Premier Fall Final, the CS2 tournament organizer announced on Friday, Sept. 27.
The request comes just one day after Astralis finished last place at BLAST Premier Fall Final following losses to Team Spirit and Vitality. Astralis though, had been under fire all week for using their new IGL Casper "cadiaN" Møller as an emergency substitute for Alexander "br0" Bro, who the organization claimed was "unfit to play".
The issue is that Fabian Broch, br0's agent, said that the player is "fully healthy and ready to perform", contradicting Astralis. This motivated the seven other IGLs attending the tournament to boycott BLAST's media day on Sept. 24 and publish an open letter protesting BLAST's decision to allow cadiaN to play.
BLAST requests a formal investigation by ESIC into Astralis
"Astralis' request for an emergency substitution has been a continually evolving situation with conflicting information presented to BLAST.
We’ve held what we hoped would be final discussions with Astralis and the player’s representatives over the last few days to clarify the situation, which resulted with both parties voicing different positions.
As a result, we have requested ESIC to conduct a formal investigation into the matter."
This statement marks a U-turn from BLAST, who previously said that they "had been given no reason no question Astralis." However, the situation quickly escalated once other professional players decided to unite and protest during the media day.
FaZe's rifler Håvard "rain" Nygaard was one of the most vocal critics of BLAST's decision to allow Astralis to use cadiaN as an emergency substitute.
"I think BLAST isn't making a good picture of themselves for next year when teams have to choose events, and I think they're shooting themselves in the foot by doing this," rain told HLTV.org. "It's just bad, to be honest."
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What comes next?
Now, we'll have to wait for ESIC to conduct an investigation into Astralis and give its verdict. It's unclear if Astralis will suffer any sanctions, though, as the esports watchdog has repeatedly failed to enforce their punishments over the past years.
