Ukrainian Esports Federation Responds Strongly to Reinstatement of Russian Players in IESF Tournaments

Previously, Russian players were only allowed to compete under a neutral status in IESF events. Representatives from Russia and Belarus were barred from the World Championship in Romania due to IESF's inability to "guarantee the safety of all athletes."

However, this does not imply that the Russian players are returning to the European Esports Federation, from which they were collectively suspended with the efforts of the majority of European federations.

Anton Markelov, the Executive Director of UESF, commented to "Katsapske Inferno" that UESF will boycott future IESF tournaments. He also recommended that participants in the ongoing IESF World Championship in Romania consider boycotting the event. Nevertheless, the final decision rests with the players.

"We nominated our candidate for the IESF board, but after this situation, we decided to withdraw him because we don't want to be involved in managing this 'idiocy'. We will block all IESF championships until they change their decision. We will recommend our national teams, currently participating in the championship in Romania, to do the same, but we cannot force them. They will decide for themselves", stated Markelov.

Soon after, it was revealed that the Ukrainian Dota 2 team declined to continue participating in the playoffs of the IESF World Championship in Romania under the auspices of the International Esports Federation.

While the Russians are celebrating their victory and asserting that "we should congratulate the international federation, as this is the logical decision for today," even they acknowledge that the IESF World Championship is far from a premier event and is not highly anticipated within the gaming community.

In the world of esports, national team tournaments have struggled to gain traction. The IESF World Championship is considered a low-level tournament with a small prize pool and a notably weak participant lineup. Moreover, IESF has little influence in the global esports scene, where decisions are primarily made by game publishers and tournament organizers.