- Virtus.Pro, a Russian esports team, may be disqualified from Gamers Galaxy for refusing to publically condemn the war
- The team was unhappy with this biased approach, saying that it has never approved of any war
- Virtus.Pro explained that esports shouldn’t be weighted down by political burdens as is the case with traditional sports
Virtus.Pro said that the Gamers Galaxy organizers threatened to disqualify the organization for not publically speaking up against the war in Ukraine.
Virtus.Pro Was Allegedly Threatened by Gamers Galaxy
The Russian esports organization Virtus.Pro faces disqualification from the Gamers Galaxy Invitational Series Dubai 2022 tournament for refusing to publically condemn the war in Ukraine. The team wasn’t happy with to be burdened with a forced message and spoke up.
Nigma Galaxy SEA, the team organizing the Gamers Galaxy event in Dubai, had noted that Virtus.Pro and its parent organization ESforce have refrained from commenting the matter publically. According to Virtus.Pro, the organizers threatened to have the Russian players disqualified under the pretense of them being COVID-ridden. Another proposal was to have Virtus.Pro play without their team logo on their jerseys.
Virtus.Pro agreed to none of those variants. The organization was baffled by the unfair treatment and suggested that WePlay, the Ukrainian organization which helps Nigma Galaxy host the tournament, is behind all of this. WePlay recently cut its ties with all Russian teams following the invasion of Ukraine.
VP Sends a Message of Unity in Esports
Virtus.Pro released a statement on Twitter, speaking against the ultimatum. The team explained that it never supported any military action against Ukraine or elsewhere and that it doesn’t think forcing someone to make a public statement is the right approach.
“We do not support any war there is or ever was: in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or any other. But forcing someone to take a public stand does not lead to peace, but instead it drives people further away from each other and fuels hatred.”
The organization pointed out that some of its members, including CEO Sergey Glamazda, are citizens of Ukraine and none of them approve of the conflict in Ukraine.
“A lot of Russian/CIS clubs are under a lot of pressure now. Some tournament operators are already conducting a witch hunt. We urge them to stop and not reflect on traditional sports, where politics run the show. Esports is beautiful in its diversity: people from different cultures and of different descent could be playing together under one tag, and territorial affiliation is only measured in ping and timezones,” the organization stated.
Virtus.Pro concluded that it will not stand for this “witch hunt” nor will it bow to Nigma Galaxy or WePlay just because it was threatened.
