This week the thematic press has been actively discussing the situation related to the conflict of interest between the teams participating in the qualifying tournament ESL: Road to Rio. MIBR and YeaH were scheduled to perform at the same event! Gaming, with several members of the former being co-owners of the latter. In the past, the occurrence of such situations at tournaments was tried to be excluded. For example, at the 2018 FACEIT Major, a rule was introduced that required teams to report such ties themselves.
Valve was the initiator of this approach, but recently it has increasingly abandoned strict criteria, handing over the right to make decisions to tournament operators. Commenting on the situation with MIBR and YeaH! Gaming, Valve representatives said that they will not interfere in it – the issue should be decided by the tournament organizer, in this case ESL. As a result, both teams were allowed to participate, despite the connection between them.
Thus, it was clear that the rule that Valve had insisted on adhering to earlier was now advisory in nature. On the one hand, this poses some threat to fair play, such as in draws and or qualifiers where teams of the same owner may meet. At the same time, looser rules regarding teams representing the same organization will provide an opportunity for youth squads to return to tournaments.
