CSPPA announces summer break dates, to the surprise of... everyone?
In an announcement on Twitter, the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association declared that, after consulting with players, tournament organizers, and other community figures, the player break for 2023 would be from June 12th through July 9th. The timing was deliberately placed a few weeks after the Valve targeted date for the Spring 2023 Major.
Several community figures have complained about the timing of the upcoming player break as it allowed for several lackluster tournaments to take place immediately following the PGL Antwerp Major. With the Major supposedly the penultimate tournament of the season, having similarly significant events beginning in the next week does not allow the community to separate the Major from another event in a string of un-ending LANs.
However, the announcement also came as a surprise for players and management alike. Players have voiced their concerns regarding the timing, with figures like Danny "zonic" Sørensen and Håvard "rain" Nygaard saying they now will only have a limited time with their families due to school breaks or other traditional summer vacations.
There are other concerning reactions by members of G2's organization that have insinuated that they were not informed nor consulted about the decision prior to the public announcement. G2's owner Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago replied to the tweet 'lmao' while Jérôme "NiaK" Sudries replied 'We are delighted to learn this here, and glad that we weren't consulted. CSPPA continues to surprise me'.
The CSPPA use a WhatsApp group chat to communicate items like this to teams and members at large. In years past, this has been used for several decisions relating to coaching, information about contracts, and upcoming player breaks. Chris "ChrisJ" De Jong told Dust2.us that the players had been informed of these dates several weeks ago that these dates were being considered. Approximately five players responded positively to the dates with no opposition. With many players not replying in the group chat and the players being informed, it appeared that this was the majority opinion. As ChrisJ put it "Literally no one spoke out against it". In the eyes of the CSPPA, if players did not agree with the dates they would have voiced their concern. Of note, no Faze Clan members were in the group at the time that the messages were sent. The oversight explains the surprised reaction from those players.
Dust2.us reviewed the messages sent in chat and can confirm the accuracy of the responses to it. With players voicing their approval to the dates, it makes sense for the association to proceed, especially with there not being any opposition voiced at the time and for these dates to have been selected.
