Ukraine withdraws from IESF amid Russia ruling
The men's Ukrainian national team has withdrawn from the IESF World Championships today despite having reached the quarterfinals of the competition. The move is in response to the IESF's vote to allow Russian players to compete under the Russian flag, having originally been barred from doing so in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in April 2022.
The Ukrainian Esports Federation (UESF) publicly chastised the vote, calling it a "disgraceful decision", and opted to withdraw from the event altogether in protest of the IESF's weakened stance on Russia's aggression on the global stage. The UESF took things one step further and likened raising the Russian flag to demonstrating support for the genocide of the Ukrainian people.
At the time of the original ban, IESF President Vlad Marinecsu declared in a now deleted page that the original decision to bar Russian emblems was due to the IESF's commitment to promoting peace and development throughout the world’s esports community.
Ukraine, who were scheduled to play against Serbia in a match on September 1st after defeating Australia, will now be headed home. As a result, Australia will now fill in and play Serbia in that matchup.
