FORZE kicked smooya for tweeting "Glory to Ukraine"

British sniper Owen smooya Butterfield was expelled from FORZE after he wrote “Glory to Ukraine” in X under Team Monte’s post about the victory over the Russian team.

Smooya, who has been a FORZE standout since the start of ESL Pro League Season 19, has been criticized by some in the Ukrainian community for his decision to play for the Russian team. The very first to react to this was the famous Ukrainian influencer Alexey yx0 Maletsky, who said the following:

What’s up @smooyacs?
Enjoy to play CS with ruzzians terrorists

 

Further, there was a debate in the Counter-Strike community about whether the British sniper made the right choice or not. However, for the vast majority everything became clear after smooya wrote in his X:

I will make this clear once, I am not representing this organisation. I’m not wearing their jersey. I’m attending ESL Pro League to hopefully show my ability to hopefully get scouted for a roster in the future. Not support any of this, so please shut the fuck up seriously

 

READ MORE: Top 10 Best CS2 Players with M4A1-S on LAN in 2024

As a result, even Alexander petr1k Petrik wished him good luck and shifted all the blame to ESL, since they still allow the following teams to the championships:

I understand it's a good chance for you to show your skill. First of all it's a mistake by TO's to even allow such teams compete and promote big russian oil company. It's frustrating to see u, the good guy, now in the team owned by a company which fuel russian tanks to kill us (

 

And now it’s time for the first match of the ForZe team against Monte. smooya became the best player of the match even though his team was beaten 2:0.

After the match, Smooya wrote under Monte's post about the victory:

Slava Ukraini

 

Which, apparently, was the reason for the kick from the gas station. But why are we so sure of this?

An hour later, the teams had already reached their hotels, smooya deleted this message, but managed to write the following:

Crazy situstion happening here, update you soon

 

And already in the morning ForZe announced that fierce (team coach) will replace smooya in the upcoming match against FURIA. And how ridiculous this is, fierce last played an official match in 2020, and yesterday smooya almost solo won your first game.

FORZE's decision to fire smooya probably wasn't an easy one. The team is in the middle of a battle for survival, and losing an important player like smooya could cost them dearly.

However, FORZE also had to consider the potential damage to its reputation if it kept smooya on the roster. The team's sponsors and fans would most likely be unhappy with smooya remaining on the team.

It's unclear what the future holds for smooya. He is a talented player, but it may be difficult for him to find a new team after this story.

The controversy surrounding smooya's tweet will likely continue for some time. This incident raised important questions about the role of esports in society. It serves as a reminder that eSports is not just a game, but a reflection of the real world.

Reaction of teammate smooya and other esports figures

Smooya's teammate, xfl0ud, expressed his support for the player. He said that smooya is a "good friend and teammate" and that he hopes he finds a new team soon. Some defended smooya, while others condemned his actions.

This incident once again highlighted the divide in esports politics. It serves as a reminder that eSports is not just a game, but a reflection of the real world.