The captains of the seven teams participating in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 tournament have openly protested against the organizers' decision to allow the Danish team Astralis to make an emergency substitution. This step caused a wave of outrage due to the suspicious nature of the circumstances on which BLAST's decision was based.

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Media day without captains

During the media day, several captains refused to fulfill their obligations in protest. This happened after the tournament organizers allowed Astralis to replace Alexander “br0” Breaux with Kasper “cadiaN” Möller. The substitution was made due to a medical exception, although br0's agent stated that the player was “absolutely healthy and ready to play”.

BLAST's position on the replacement

BLAST reported that it does not require medical certificates from teams and takes information from them “on faith”. The organizers also noted that they continue to investigate and are ready to apply sanctions if violations are found.

Captains' position in the open letter

The protest was led by such captains as Rusel “Twistzz” van Dalken, Alexi “Aleksib” Virolainen, Marco “Snappi” Pfeifer, Dan “apEX” Madesclair, Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski, Finn “karrigan” Andersen. They signed an open letter addressed to the BLAST organizers, calling for the preservation of integrity at the tournaments and demanding that the rules be followed.

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Statement of the captains

In their open letter, the captains noted that the lineup lockout rules exist to ensure fairness in tournaments. They reminded that during previous BLAST tournaments, other teams were not allowed to make emergency substitutions. For example, at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024, Heroic was denied a replacement for Abdul “degster” Hasanov, and coach Eetu “sAw” Sahu had to play in the player's place.

Ethical issues

The captains also strongly opposed the use of players' mental or physical health as a reason to justify emergency substitutions. They emphasized that such issues should be handled with the utmost respect for players and their privacy. The captains also propose that any fine that may be imposed on Astralis should be donated to a mental health charity.

Source: HLTV