They were nominated for the Esports Broadcast & Production of the Year award.
PGL CEO, Silviu Stroie, has announced the org is withdrawing its name from this year’s Esports Awards. The statement came shortly after Esports Awards nominated PGL for Esports Broadcast & Production of the Year. The other nominees included ESL, BLAST, and Riot as well.
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PGL CEO: We cannot and don't want to be associated with an event that has lost its credibility and is not serving its purpose anymore
In a damning statement that raises concerns on the credibility of The Esports Awards, PGL CEO Silviu Stroie said his organization is withdrawing from the awards. The Esports Awards is hosting two events this year, with the first already having taken place in Saudi Arabia. The location of the second event has not yet been announced, but The Esports Awards have gone ahead with revealing the nomination lists for multiple award categories.
"We understand that our events are unique and watched by millions of fans worldwide," said Silviu Stroie. "We cannot and don't want to be associated with an event that has lost its credibility and is not serving its purpose anymore."
This statement comes after the recent backlash against The Esports Awards for its collaboration with The Esports World Cup. Funded by Saudi’s PIA (Public Investment Fund), critics claim the Esports World Cup is an attempt to sportswash their image. Several esports organizations have taken in investments from Saudi Arabia and more particularly The Public Investment Fund. The SGG (Savvy Games Group) made a $1.5 billion investment in ESL and Faceit. The PIF bought a minority stake in Japan's Capcom and Korea's Nexon in 2022 with each stake valued at more than $1 billion. They want to expand their stake in the two companies as per a report by Nikkei. The PIF also had a 9.2% stake in Electronic Arts, a 6.7% stake in Take-Two Initiative, a 4.9% stake in Activision Blizzard as well as an 8.3% stake in Nintendo as of March 2023.
In the past few weeks, several broadcast talent have also publicly announced they will not work with The Esports Awards for its second event of the year. The biggest gripe most talent and public personalities have with The Esports Awards is that it is associating itself with a country that criminalizes transgender people. It also has death penalties in place for sexual activity between two people of the same sex. Furthermore, people feel the country has a long distance to go to grant women rights equal to that of men.
The Esports Awards signed a three-year contract with The Esports World Cup earlier this year. The announcement was met with severe backlash from the Esports Community especially amidst rising discontent about The Esports World Cup. The Esports Awards announced the list of nominations for its second Award Ceremony on September 24, but it included some notable omissions.
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