SIBOL overall head coach Ralph “Leathergoods” Llabres blasted Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio for his comments regarding SIBOL’s decision in Nexplay EVOS’ upper bracket match last Friday.
Minutes prior to the match, Nexplay EVOS jungler John Paul “H2wo” Salonga was rushed to the hospital for excessive vomiting and stomach pain.
Instead of immediately fielding in one of their reserves, Dogie, who was the one communicating with the organizers, asked to wait for another hour to wait for H2wo as he was the only jungler on the roster.
The request, however, was denied. Nexplay EVOS was also handed a one-game penalty for the delay with SIBOL officials awarding the first game to Blacklist International — a ‘slap in the wrist’ according to Leathergoods.
“The event will not stop because of one player as a team consists of five main players plus two substitutes.
“What happened here is something that the selection process has no control over and the decision to push through with just a [one-game] penalty despite a delay caused not only to the tournament but more so to Blacklist International,” said Leathergoods in a Facebook post.
“I really see it as a slap on the wrist because Blacklist International could have pushed for complete disqualification as per the rule book,” he added.
Nexplay EVOS eventually lost the series via sweep. Rookie EXP laner Rainiel “URESHIII” Logronio assumed the jungler dutied in Game Two before H2wo came back in Game Three after being discharged from the hospital.
In his vlog, Dogie also accused the Sibol organizers of prioritizing the tournament’s livestream instead of his player’s health when in fact, it was the Nexplay EVOS staff — led by him — who decided to let H2wo play despite his condition.
The jungler was already complaining of stomach pains before the match, according to the popular streamer.
“Kinda weird that [he saw] the Sibol executives’ decision to 1-0 the match was [because] ‘gusto i-live yung match imbis na i-prioritize yung health ng bata’ when that focus should be on the team and not the tournament provider or event organizer,” said the Bren Esports head.
“This is still the qualifiers and I guess, personally speaking, I know that the Sibol selection is a big tournament and something that every esports athlete would dream of. But I would never in my life exchange the health of my players for a tournament. As management or owners or even leaders of teams, please prioritize your players’ health above all things,” he added.
Leathergoods also hit Nexplay EVOS’ hesitance to field in their reserves. He also added that it was a slap on the substitute’s face.
“Same with any other sport, if ma-injure ang star player niyo, deal with that injury the best you can and play with the cards you are dealt with,” said Leathergoods.
“Medyo surprising lang na why would I include [substitute] players if I don’t even want them to play in the first place. Then why register their names as players. It would feel like a slap across the face towards the sub players, if I wasn’t confident in letting them play or do their job,” he added.
As much as they want to sympathize with what happened with Nexplay EVOS, Leathergoods reminded everyone that there are rules that needed to be upheld to maintain the integrity of the tournament.
“I really hope teams would understand that as we want all the players to be healthy and ready for battle. This does not change the fact that we have rules to uphold and we have to make fair decisions” said the long-time esports official.
“Walang special treatment.”
