Blacklist International management has issued a public statement to clarify the incident that unfolded after the grand finals of the MPL Philippines Season 11 where they declined to attend the post-match interview.
Some members of the MPL Press Corps took to social media to call out the incident.
“After yesterday’s Grand Finals match at the MPL, our MLBB team was on standby for their post-match interview. Due to the winner’s interview session running longer than anticipated, our coaching staff and management made the decision to inform the league that we would forgo this interview in order to allow our players to take their rest and dinner earlier,” read the team’s statement.
“This was a decision made solely by the management, and none of our players begged off from the post-match interview with the media. It was made with our team’s fatigue, hunger, and overall well-being in mind.”
Although not required, teams who lost the grand finals in Season 9 (Smart Omega) and Season 10 (Echo) both attended the post-match interview with all members of the team along with the coaching staff.
All losing teams during the playoffs in Season 11 were also invited for the post-match interviews. During the regular season, only members of the winning team were invited to the post-match interviews.
Blacklist recognized the importance of the media to the team and promised to welcome future interviews.
“However, we do recognize that as an organization, we need to do better by our media partners and friends. They are an important part of the esports ecosystem and we appreciate them helping us tell the story of our players and teams,” Blacklist said.
“We will ensure that there will be ample opportunities for interviews moving forward, whether we win or lose.”
The post-match interviews started during the Season 9 playoffs, when MPL PH decided to return to the face-to-face tournament format.
