The tournament organizers are informing all LAN attendees.
A Valorant player lied about getting an RT-PCR Covid test and attended the Nerd Street LAN tournament in Philadelphia. He tested positive later and only informed his teammates after the event.
NRG Ethos revealed on Twitter that his teammate, Crit, lied about getting an RT-PCR COVID test despite multiple members of his family testing positive. Getting an RT-PCR was also a requirement for the LAN tournament. Ethos urged all attendees of the Nerd Street LAN to get a COVID test as soon as possible.
Ethos also attached several screenshots of private DMs where Crit tells his teammates he is not COVID positive. In the DMs, Crit says he took an RT-PCR test that cost him $125. But in reality, he never took one. The 20-year-old player lied about getting an RT-PCR test, instead, he says he used two "homemade test kits", both of which turned out to be negative.
Crit apologizes on Twitter
Soon after the revelation, Crit publicly apologized and urged attendees to get themselves checked. He called himself immature for putting his family and friends at risk as a result of his actions.
"I deserve all the hate I’m going to receive from this because it is absolutely justified, I was immature irresponsible and as alan said an idiot I let my own drive to compete get in the way of what really matters and that’s the friends and family of everyone who I could have,” said Crit. “The trouble I have caused everyone and anyone I might have hurt by being this irresponsible. I'm 19 years old but I still act like a child and I have to grow up and start thinking. I won’t allow this to ever happen again and once again I am sorry to everyone. Forgive me.”
Meanwhile, John Fazio, Nerd Street CEO said it was “unacceptable and will be handled swiftly.” He also urged everyone that everyone needs to play their part if we are to get back to esports LAN events. NerdStreet will be reviewing their LAN policies going ahead.
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Nerd Street Gamers to review its LAN policies
While Crit’s actions were definitely irresponsible, Nerd Street Gamers also have to take some responsibility for their lack of checks. Despite requiring an RT-PCR test for everyone’s safety, the organizer did not check the results at the venue. A robust onground check could have prevented any further possible infections at the venue.
“We are in the process of making everyone aware. We were following all CDC and local gov guidance, but we’ll be re-evaluating our own process moving forward. We’ll do whatever we need to keep our players and spectators safe.”
After being confronted on social media, Fazio admitted their shortcomings and said they are in the process of informing all attendees.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Valorant news and updates.
