ATF and Quest Esports couldn’t come to an agreement about a contract or an extension of the loan.
Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf has parted ways with Quest Esports following a failure for the two parties to come to a contract agreement. The news was initially reported this morning (June 15) but later confirmed on ATF’s Twitter.
The news leaves Quest Esports without an offlaner just four days in advance of Riyadh Masters, which starts on June 19.
In the post, Al-Assaf revealed that Quest’s loan ended after the Bali Major. This is consistent with the original details of the loan from Nigma Galaxy, which were described as for the “next DPC season.”
Following this, ATF stated that Quest didn’t want to extend the loan, and offered a contact which he “didn’t agree with.” Subsequently, ATF alleged that Quest Esports had told the player to choose between signing the contract or the team replacing him with a stand-in.
ATF specified that he chose not to sign the contract, and Quest were unwilling to extend the loan, offer a different contract, instead opting for a stand-in. ATF further clarified that Nigma Galaxy, the team he’s under contract with, helped with a potential loan or buyout, but the Quest contract was just not acceptable for him.
Nigma Galaxy also shared their thoughts, stating "We believed it was best for ATF to compete in Riyadh and the TI Qualifiers [with Quest]. We have tried our best to make this work, and we were trying to explore several options, just for Ammar to play."
Quest Esports at Riyadh: Sink or Swim?
With the departure of their star offlaner, the Quest Esports we see at Riyadh may be a very different team. While Aybek "TA2000" Tokayev, Tony "No!ob" Assaf, Omar "OmaR" Moughrabi, and captain Oleh "kaori" Medvedok performed incredibly at Bali, with a fourth-place finish, the lack of ATF will definitely be felt.
What’s more, the team parted ways with its its coach, Alexander "Accell" Litvienko, a day after the end of the Bali Major.
It’s hard to imagine that a team losing its offlaner and coach will perform at the same level it did less than a week ago when they were one of the most competitive teams in the world.
Riyadh Masters starts on June 19, stay tuned to esports.gg for more news and information.