Because of a “offensive gesture,” Coach Rob “Robwiz” Kennedy was not allowed to compete in the final of the Valorant Game Changers Championship. As a result, Kennedy did not attend the game.
In a statement released by Valorant Esports, the organization says that on November 19, Kennedy, the coach of Shopify Rebellion GC, made a “offensive gesture” against the players of Cloud9 White while they were performing on stage.
Because of this, the Global Competition Policy rule 7.1.2 was broken, which stipulates that coaches are required to “observe the highest standards of personal integrity and good sportsmanship at all times.”
The statement went on to say that any behavior that “disrespects and degrades” players is a violation of the norms that are expected of coaches and that such behavior is unacceptable. Kennedy was barred from competing in his subsequent match as a result of this “offensive gesture,” which took place the day before (November 20) and also happened to be the championship match for the competition. In addition to receiving a monetary penalty, he has been “warned that any repeat infractions of this policy may result in additional penalties.”
Kennedy moved to his own Twitter account to express his sadness in his team’s failure to advance to the championship round, adding that he and his teammates “worked so hard” to get to this point. In addition, he expressed his regret to the supporters of the squad by saying, “Sorry to anybody I have disappointed.”
Mel, a member of the C9 team, was also heard saying, “For what it’s worth, this was not instigated by my team.” After telling Robwiz that Lexi and I thought the clip was humorous and that there is no bad blood between us, we added that we were “heartbroken for them.”
On many social media platforms, those who follow Valorant esports activities have voiced their concern that the sanctions that are handed out for breaking the code do not adhere to a unified set of norms.
Fnatic’s Derke has tweeted a series of images that depict other Valorant players and team staff making disrespectful gestures of a similar type. In response, team Heet’s ec1s stated, “If that’s the fact then Fnatic are playing 3v5 next official with Derke and Boaster on the sidelines.” It should be emphasized that these players received a punishment of $500 (about equivalent to £420), however they were not suspended from any upcoming matches.
A user by the name of Razur posted on Twitter that according to the official regulations for the Championship, two instances of “flagrant misconduct” are required before a match can be suspended. They inquired, “What additional act of Flagrant Misconduct did Robwiz commit?” and “Does suspending him from the Grand Finals uphold the spirit of competitive integrity?” Robwiz’s suspension from the Grand Finals did not uphold the spirit of competitive integrity.
They do mention that if there was one other instance of this behavior, it may not have been publicised and therefore cannot assume that there has not been one, but others have said that this should also have resulted in a “separate competitive ruling statement.” This is because they do mention that if there was one other instance of this behavior, it may not have been publicised and therefore cannot assume that there has not been one.
In other news, a God of War Ragnarok developer has disclosed that one of the game’s optional tasks is a memorial to his late colleague and former developer, who worked on a previous iteration of the game.
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