Aleksandar kassad Trifunović broke in the live broadcast of IEM Katowice 2023 during the analysis of Janko YNk Paunovic before the start of the match between Evil Geniuses and Sprout. Trifunović declared that he refuses to provide coverage of the match and criticized the North American team.

YNk tried to calm down his colleague, but didn't manage to. Trifunović's microphone was soon turned off and he was removed from the set. The ESL didn't interrupt the broadcast and only switched to a commercial break after Freya Freya Spiers, the host, expressed her surprise at what had happened.

Listen, this is ridiculous. I was scheduled to do this game and I'm not doing it. EG is in shambles, they won't qualify, they don't have the team, they have a bunch of players. This is ridiculous. People need to know the truth. I won't be silenced about this. That's enough, I am done, I will not do this anymore.

Aleksandar kassad Trifunović

Despite the incident, the match started and kassad's colleagues addressed apologies to the fans on Twitter for his behavior. SPUNJ and YNk recorded a joint video in which they condemned Trifunovich's behavior. They also added that the analyst will provide coverage the IEM Katowice 2023 matches until the end of the group stage as per the contract terms, but viewers will not see him in the play-off.

The vice president of ESL, Michal Carmac Blicharz, also spoke out. He made his statement less serious by quoting the head of Valve, Gabe Newell, at the end of the video, the same phrase that led commentator James 2GD Harding to be fired in the past.

Hey guys. If you have been watching IEM Katowice 2023 the last hour or something, you might have caught kassad's antics, the old man has completely lost it. When it comes to EG, absolutely unacceptable, I was actually quite surprised that our diminutive stage manager managed to pull him off the set. Kassad is an ass, we won't be working with him again.

Michal Carmac Blicharz

Returning to the hotel, Kassad also recorded a message, but instead of apologizing, he decided to criticize "fake friends" who had previously criticized his behavior.

Alright, I'm back in my hotel room and all I have to say is that I apologize for absolutely nothing. I stand by everything that I said and this is a message for the fake friends such as Janko[YNk] and Chad[SPUNJ]. The all these years, you know, you are dead to me. That's it, I'm done.

Aleksandar kassad Trifunović

READ MORE: ESL is using “Smart Glass” at IEM Katowice 2023 during matches, how does it work?

The incident left the live stream viewers in disbelief — was it part of a planned show or a real-time incident. Later, an official statement was made on the ESL Twitter account that they will continue to collaborate with Kassad.

Unfortunately, @kassad's actions tonight were out-of-line with what we stand for. We will be working with him again in the future.

ESL

In the end, Evil Geniuses lost to Sprout with a score of 0:2 in the lower bracket of the Play-In stage and exited IEM Katowice 2023. The schedule and results of the tournament can be tracked through the link.