Two-time TI champion and recent Stockholm Major winner was invited to meet French President in his official residence.
On June 3rd, the legendary Lebanese-French Dota 2 player Sebastien ‘Ceb’ Debs announced on Twitter that he was invited to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron not long after reigning champion at Stockholm Major 2022.
The letter translates “Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic kindly invites Mr Sebastien Debs to the reception in honor of French esports and the Trackmania Cup on Friday 3rd June at 4pm in the Palace of Elysee.”
Ceb suited up to give one of his empowering speeches
It cannot be said for certain what exactly was the purpose of Ceb’s attendance at the French President’s household. However, the following image suggests that he gave a speech during the event.
Update: OG released a video on Twitter providing a translation on the speech that Ceb gave at the event. Follow the article below for more details:
[esports_link url="https://esports.gg/news/dota-2/ceb-talks-esports-in-france/"]
OG won Stockholm Major in a typical Cinderella fashion
Ceb recently came out of retirement and participated at the Stockholm Major for the team as a stand-in for OG’s captain and position 5 player, Mikhail ‘Misha’ Agatov.
OG delivered a promising performance during the group stages but flopped immediately at the start of the playoffs to TSM FTX, dropping to the lower bracket.
After losing their first playoffs match, OG made a miraculous comeback run to win all of Stockholm Major through the lower bracket and exerted revenge against upper bracket champion, TSM FTX.
As a stand-in, Ceb once again achieved a Cinderella victory along with the new OG iteration that consists of young prodigies Artem ‘Yuragi’ Golubiev, Bozhidar ‘bzm’ Bogdanov, Ammar ‘ATF’ Al-Assaf, and veteran Tommy ‘Taiga’ Le.
The offlaner player who earned his keep and the famous “CEEEEEEEEEEEB” shoutout through Axe will now be known as the only support player who made the infamous Windranger a viable hero that helped won the competition.
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Ceb will still retire even after a glorious Major win
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How can a player win a major and be retired at the same time?
France has bold goals for the world of esports
In 2024, as you know, we will host the Olympic Games. I hope that on this occasion we will be able to welcome in France some of the biggest esports events in the world: a CS:GO major, the Worlds of League of Legends, and The International of Dota 2. That 2 or 3 of these events be held in the same country in the same year would be exceptional.
It is no surprise for the French President to extend an invitation to the two-time TI champion. Macron has plans to boost esports popularity in France.
He once said in an interview that he would like to host some of the biggest esports tournaments, including TI in France.
"In 2024, as you know, we will host the Olympic Games. I hope that on this occasion we will be able to welcome in France some of the biggest esports events in the world: a CS:GO major, the Worlds of League of Legends, and The International of Dota 2. That 2 or 3 of these events be held in the same country in the same year would be exceptional. What would be a better symbol than to bring together the elite of sport and esport in France? Why, moreover, not imagine another format with national teams? I believe it can do a lot to develop esports even further," said the President.
Esports and Dota 2 getting more recognition
Government officials celebrating esports players is not unusual. Not long ago, Team Spirit was congratulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin for their victory at 2021’s TI10.
Former OG teammates Jesse ‘JerAx’ Vainikka and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen were also recognized by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto after winning TI8.
These players’ achievements shed light to the world of esports, especially to Dota 2. Hopefully this will elevate the industry to another level.
