BLAST rope in ESIC for Astralis substitution case
It's been a whirlwind of a few days at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, with most of the attention centered on Astralis' emergency substitution of Casper "cadiaN" Møller for Alexander "br0" Bro. The younger Dane is allegedly fully physically fit to play which eventually resulted in opposing captains organizing a protest on the tournament's media day.
BLAST initially released a statement that stood by their initial decision to allow cadiaN to participate in the tournament despite claims from br0's agent that the player was fully healthy.
The tournament organizer released a new statement this morning revealing that the situation has been "continually evolving" with "conflicting information" being presented.
"We’ve held what we hoped would be final discussions with Astralis and the player’s representatives over the last few days to clarify the situation, which resulted with both parties voicing different positions." The organizer stated on X, this morning. "As a result, we have requested ESIC to conduct a formal investigation into the matter."
It's a sharp change from BLAST's statement on Tuesday and in contrast to words from Astralis Founder Nikolaj Nyholm who told Dust2.dk "I think the fact that there are no comments from Alex (br0, ed.), from the agent or from us anymore, should be interpreted as that we have solved [the issue]".
Fans are quick to point out that bringing in ESIC is also a measure that might not yield favorable results. The oversight body has yet to further their investigation into the North American Counter-Strike Matchfixing Scandal. They have also been criticized for their handling of Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen's bannable offenses.
