Sources: ESIC To Review Astralis Emergency Substitution At BLAST Fall Finals

It's possible that the fallout from BLAST's decision isn't over yet as the Esports Integrity Commission is to review the matter.

Photo courtesy of BLAST’s Michal Konkol

Following complaints from players and community members alike surrounding BLAST’s decision to grant Astralis an emergency substitute for the Fall Final, sources close to the matter have informed this publication that the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) plan to review the matter. It’s not clear whether their investigation will be formal or informal but they are aware of suspicions that Astralis may have misrepresented the health status of their player Alexander "br0" Bro in order to play with their new in-game leader Casper "cadiaN" Møller.

The tournament operator had come under fire after they claimed they had conducted their own investigation that provided “no reason to question Astralis’s original statement to [them] and the decision to allow them to use an emergency substitute.” However publicly Bro’s representation had said he was healthy and available to play. In addition to this was information that not only was the player competing on FACEIT for eight hours prior to the game but he had also been in practice matches with ENCE. This collectively casts doubt on the claim that Bro was “unfit” to compete in the event.

BLAST officially became a member of ESIC in October 2019 meaning that matters of discipline and integrity would fall under the commission’s purview. Their relationship was further solidified when BLAST CEO Robbie Douek joined ESIC’s Global Esports Industry Advisory Board four months ago. In joining Douek pledged to assist the commission in helping “create the best and fairest environment possible for players, teams and fans.”

The handling of the matter by BLAST led to six of the eight team captains refusing to participate in media work for the tournament. In what represented the first collective action by players since the dissolution of the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA)  those same captains signed an open letter asking BLAST to reconsider the decision. FaZe player Håvard "rain" Nygaard also publicly implied that the decision could lead to organisations electing not to participate in future BLAST events. BLAST also elected to cancel a press huddle with Møller, likely in anticipation of the line of questioning.

A detail that might be of interest to ESIC is Astralis’s protocol around substitutes for their attendance at ESL Pro League, an event that ended just a few days before the start of BLAST’s Fall Final. According to the official registration documents that this publication obtained they had registered a total of four substitutes, three of which were from from their academy team. These were Andreas “kiR” Kirstein, Emil “KroK” Wiedermann, Richart “ANSG1” Nielsen. Bizarrely the fourth named substitute was the organisation’s Sports Director Kasper Straube, registered under the player name “p1vi.”

For BLAST they had registered no substitutes despite the rules allowing them to register up to two other players. In the absence of registered substitutes they would have had to play with their coach, Casper “Ruggah” Due as per BLAST’s rules. It isn’t clear why they decided to register four substitutes for their ESL tournament, where they finished 21^st-28^th, but couldn’t do so for an event taking place immediately after.

All told the insistence on using Møller with barely any preparation time seems a strange one given how things played out. The team suffered a 13-0 13-4 crushing defeat at the hands of their first opponents Vitality and then went out of the competition in joint last place earlier today courtesy of 2-1 defeat against Team Spirit. The manner of the results can’t have inspired confidence and Møller himself stated in a post-defeat interview that “all the extra noise surrounding me playing was not easy.”

We will bring you more on this story as it develops.