On his recent live Twitch broadcast, D3str0_o invited Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov, Alexander "petr1k" Petrik, and UESF Director Eduard Anokhin to his podcast.
Together, they discussed the development of Ukrainian esports for over two hours, as well as the work of the Esports Federation of Ukraine during wartime.
We've extracted the most important points from their discussion for you.
- Recently, Russians are no longer taboo in esports tournaments for Ukrainians. If they don't represent Russia with a flag and anthem and haven't been involved in war propaganda, they are considered players competing under a neutral flag.
- There have been issues with event sponsors. Eduard Anokhin noted that the title sponsor ESL - 1XBET, which is banned in Ukraine by the president's order, is causing problems. Additionally, many teams have betting companies on their jerseys that are also banned in Ukraine. This doesn't necessarily mean a complete ban on traveling, but it could be a factor hindering teams from going abroad.
- Teams that have received official permission to travel and have not returned damage the reputation for future teams. The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine keeps records across all federations, and the more people don't return from a particular federation, the less likely future trips will be approved.
- Eduard Anokhin discussed the current activities of UESF: they support all tournaments in Ukraine, organize competitions themselves, negotiate with federations from other countries to create international online and offline tournaments, work on educational and political aspects, and oppose Russians at all levels.
- However, they currently lack someone responsible for social media interactions to share the work and achievements of the Ukrainian esports federation.
- Monte was excluded from the Ukrainian national team not because of a violation of stay deadlines abroad but because they violated the order to play with Russian players in competitions (specifically, BLAST RMR and BLAST Paris Major).
- At the moment, UESF does not have a procedure for returning players to the Ukrainian national team, so Monte cannot turn to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for permission to travel. However, they can try to do so through another ministry, if they can.
- A UESF representative is not skilled at fact-checking and believed in a fake about nafany, who allegedly appeared on the major stage with a Russian flag and insulted Ukrainian esports figures.
- It's important to note that UESF is a non-governmental organization and receives funding from private sources and sponsors, not from the Ukrainian state budget, and they have no plans to change that.
- UESF does not have specific criteria for banning Ukrainians for playing with Russian players on one team, and each case is considered individually. To avoid being included in this list, one must adhere to a Ukrainian civilian position, not attend boot camps in Russia, not participate in Russian tournaments, and not be part of a Russian team at present.
- In response to Petrik's question, "What is a Russian team?" Eduard Anokhin replied that it is a team that supports Russian and military positions.
- Ukrainian players from Team Spirit were banned for participating in a Russian team and paying taxes in Russia.
- It seems that UESF does not plan to publish a list of blocked Ukrainians excluded from the Ukrainian national team.
- Violators who have received official permission to travel and have not returned are excluded from the Ukrainian national team.
- Almost all UESF staff are located in Ukraine, with only one employee abroad for health reasons (although Vilat claimed otherwise).
- In the future, the Esports Federation of Ukraine plans to be more active in sharing the results of its work on social media.
Throughout UESF's history, players and other media personalities have had many questions about the competence of this organization.
You can find the full recording of the live broadcast here.
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