PGL releases Conflict of Interest declarations
PGL published several statements from Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin, NIP, MOUZ, and FaZe earlier this morning as they were highlighting potential conflicts of interest that may arise during the PGL Copenhagen Major RMR events.
Players are required to provide clarity regarding any potential conflict of interest thanks to a Valve ruling from 2019.
"We consider a conflict of interest to be any case where a tournament, team, or player has a financial relationship with any other participating team or its players." Valve said in the news update, 'Keeping Things Competitive' released in September 2019. "In order to participate in Majors, we require that players, teams, and tournament operators confirm that they have no existing conflicts of interest, or if they do, disclose them and work to resolve them."
The issue of players loans has been a sticking point, with the same issue permeating throughout the sporting world in a similar manner. In the case of the upcoming RMR, Brollan has a contract with NIP and has been allowed to play for MOUZ for the time being. Concerns are that should MOUZ and NIP play, Brollan would potentially be obligated or pressured to help NIP considering they have a contract with him.
In signed statements, NIP, MOUZ, and Brollan clarified that Brollan's best competitive interest would be towards MOUZ and there was no monetary relation to NIP and that Brollan would be acting entirely independent from NIP.
NIP and MOUZ are participating in the PGL Copenhagen European RMR A and PGL Copenhagen European RMR B, respectively. While the two qualifiers are separate, there is still the chance the teams could compete against one another in the last chance qualifier.
Additionally, FaZe's Edward Han released a statement that the squad have no existing conflicts of interest or business entanglements as of this date. The statement also detailed that publicly known GameSquare, owner of Complexity, intends to acquire FaZe which may create a future conflict. Han's statement also said that they intended to ensure fair play and that no conflict are in place when the transaction takes place.
FaZe is set to vote on the GameSquare's merger on February 16th. The board of directors for FaZe are recommending to all shareholders that they vote 'Yes' to the proposal.
Some fans noticed that PGL did not release a Conflict of Interest declaration from Complexity. Dust2.us spoke with Complexity COO Kyle "Beef" Bautista who said that "Complexity submitted all participation paperwork required by PGL for the upcoming Major, including the COI declaration."
The PGL Copenhagen Major RMRs begin February 14th with the European A Group. The Americas RMR begins on March 1st.
