A STYKO expressed concern about the conflict of interest in tournaments where the main team and the academy can compete together. He questioned the fairness of this approach and the risks for international performances. Expressing his opinion on Twitter, STYKO noted that he wants to see these LAN tournaments as a path to international performances, so it is important to avoid such situations.
Discussion about fairness
Pavel Kristian, a representative of the Czech scene, explained that the rule allowing major teams and academies to play together was introduced several years ago due to the small number of teams in the region. He added that these rules existed long before Valve's ranking system. Christian also noted that convincing academic players to lose a match is much more difficult than organizing a contractual match with random teams.
STYKO emphasizes the importance of the tournament model
STYKO emphasized the need for a thoughtful approach to the organization of tournaments, especially if they affect higher levels of competition, such as Valve tournaments. He emphasized that the problem is not the possibility of abuse, but the fact that such a possibility exists.
I think you need to think consequentially about your tournament. If it impacts higher entity such as Valve Tournament, you need to be able to adjust your model accordingly.
— STYKO (@STYKOcs) August 2, 2024
For COI: The issue isn’t IF it will be abused. The issue is that the opportunity is there.
Teams involved in the scandal
The scandal arose around the participation of SINNERS and SINNERS Academy teams in a local LAN tournament, where the prize pool is so large that it will affect the fate of several teams in the selection for RMR (Regional Major Rankings). This led to discussions in the community about the conflict of interest and the possibility of abuse.
The importance of transparency
Christian agreed with the need to adapt the rules in case of new restrictions from Valve, but noted that there are more serious problems in the current system, such as large online tournaments with huge prize pools and a lack of anti-cheat systems. He added that this problem is minor and can be easily solved with a set of rules from Valve.
STYKO also noted that to prevent possible abuse, the best solution might be to lower the RMR points for such tournaments.
Comments