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Олександр КузьменкоGameDev Eng
2 December 2024, 17:07
2024-12-02
Players of the Ukrainian eSports team Passion UA refused to shake hands with rivals from GamerLegion because of a Russian sponsor and a player from the Russian Federation
Football player Oleksandr Zinchenko’s team Passion UA lost to the Swedish team GamerLegion at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 tournament. After the meeting, the Ukrainians refused to respond to the traditional handshake with their opponents, probably because of a Russian player in their team and a former sponsor from the Russian Federation, the bookmaker company Fonbet.
Football player Oleksandr Zinchenko’s team Passion UA lost to the Swedish team GamerLegion at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 tournament. After the meeting, the Ukrainians refused to respond to the traditional handshake with their opponents, probably because of a Russian player in their team and a former sponsor from the Russian Federation, the bookmaker company Fonbet.
Passion UA met with GamerLegion in the group stage of Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. Both teams won two matches and had one loss on their account, «Champion» notes.
The match started on the Inferno map, which was chosen by the Ukrainians. However, it was the Swedish team that won it with a convincing score of 13:6. Passion UA reciprocated against Mirage — 13:5. The decisive round took place on Ancient, which Zinchenko’s team lost, although with a fighting score of 13:9.
After the meeting, the Ukrainians refused to shake hands with the players of the Swedish team, which provoked a small hitch, CS2News media reports. It cites sponsorship from Russian bookmaker Fonbet as a possible reason.
Passion UA refused to shake hands of the GamerLegion players and it’s probably because of their Russian bookie sponsor. pic.twitter.com/qtr7wQDaXN
However, according to Russian GamerLegion player Timur «FL4MUS» Maryev, Fonbet is no longer sponsoring the team.
«Actually, one of the representatives of Passion UA approached me and warned me that we will not shake hands. I thought it was addressed to me, but it turned out to be about the whole team. There was such a misunderstanding,» he said .
According to him, he did not know that it was related to Fonbet. «They just told me, 'Hey, we’re not going to shake your hand.' The bookmaker is no longer our sponsor,» the Russian claims. Fonbet was previously mentioned among GamerLegion’s sponsors on social media, but currently only Re-Bo is listed there.
«In any case, huge respect to Passion UA for the way they work. They play great, they are really great guys. It was really nice to play against them,» added FL4MUS.
Thanks to the victory, GamerLegion advanced to the Elimination Stage, but Passion UA will still have one last chance to enter the main draw of the tournament. The Ukrainian team will play against another team that has a 2-2 win balance.
