ESL Pro League bans organizations defending the Russian government

Organizers continue to impose sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Today it is the ESL that bans teams with close ties to the Russian government from participating in their tournaments.

In a statement published on its website, ESL, one of the biggest organizers of esport tournaments on CS:GO, announced the first actions to penalize Russia following the invasion of Ukraine that began a week ago. The tournament organizer says it is „shocked and saddened by this Russian invasion of Ukraine and hopes for a quick and peaceful resolution“. The ESL intends to support the people suffering from this tragedy through donations to the UNHCR, paid leave for their employees who decide to engage in humanitarian actions.

Our statement on Ukraine.

Read more: https://t.co/QMrakmtC5P pic.twitter.com/fFebyPoXMo

— ESL (@ESL) March 2, 2022

BLAST had already announced this week to ban Russian teams from its competitions and the ESL is following the same example with some details. Here, only organizations that are closely or remotely related to the Russian government will be banned from participating in ESL Pro League events, including individuals or organizations that have been subject to European sanctions in connection with the conflict. According to the ESL, two organizations would be impacted by the new guidelines, Virtus.pro and Gambit.

However, the ESL does not feel it is fair that players from these organizations who are not complicit in this situation receive sanctions as „this is not in the spirit of esports“. Players from Virtus.pro and Gambit will therefore be able to participate in these tournaments, only under a neutral name, without representing their organization, country or even sponsors.

In addition, the ESL has also stated that all events taking place in CIS will be paused but confides that they can still be played in the future. „We will monitor and evaluate these future competitions and make further decisions as the situation progresses,“ the organization announced.

This decision follows the call for help from the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, who asked all organizations and companies in the video game world to boycott Russia and withdraw from its market. Even before this statement, many organizations had already shown their support for the Ukrainians and some gamers, like s1mple, had donated money to be able to help as they could.