Virtus.pro terminates its contract with Pure
The Russian eSports organization Virtus.pro has terminated the contract with ??Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko. Information about this appeared on their official website.
In the DPC: Playoffs semifinals between the Outsiders (Virtus.pro) and Mind Games, ??Pure drew a "Z" sign on the minimap during a pause and then painted over it. After the incident, the BTS tournament organizer investigated and disqualified the team from the tournament. Thus, Virtus.pro lost their chance to qualify for ESL One Stockholm 2022.
Virtus.Pro comments:
"Right after the incident with Pure during game 1 we contacted Valve and the tournament organizer while conducting our own investigation. Sergey Glamazda, CEO of Virtus.pro, personally talked to the players between the games to find out more about what happened. Pure publicly explained himself right after the game. BTS also contacted other players of our team to hear their side of the story. We were notified that the final decision was up to the publisher.
The severity of the punishment is shocking. Valve has a certain history of imposing disciplinary measures, but disqualifying the whole team from a DPC tournament based on a drawing on a minimap by single player sets up a whole new precedent.
Any actions have consequences, whether intentional or not. Virtus.pro has been consistently opposing any cases of inciting hatred in esports. The club terminates contract with Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko for his diminishing actions that led to disqualification from the tournament and caused a great deal of harm to our relationship with the worldwide esports society.
Further changes in our roster will be announced separately."
Moskalenko joined Virtus.pro in November 2021. Together with the team, he took 3rd place in the DPC: EEU Winter Regional League and 2nd place in the Regional Final.