By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno – PNA
MANILA — There will be no Carlo Palad in the Chongqing Major.
No less than the developer of DOTA 2 itself, Valve, dropped the executioner’s ax on the TNC Predator offlaner in a statement on Tuesday.
“We are now stepping in directly and banning Kuku (Palad) from attending this event,” Valve said.
Palad’s ban came from the heels of his racist slur in a public game that sparked an outrage from the Chinese DOTA 2 community, leading to rumors that Chongqing’s city government could intervene if Palad will be spared of the tournament ban.
But Valve stated, “For clarification, Kuku is not banned by the Chinese government. While there is a lot of anxiety around his attendance and problems it may create, we do not believe his presence creates a real security threat.”
The development means TNC Predator, who earned a spot in the Chongqing Major by topping the Southeast Asian Qualifiers, will need to find a substitute player for Palad.
Valve later clarified that the ban “does not affect future tournaments,” which means Palad will still be eligible to play in The International 9 in Shanghai contrary to earlier rumors.
Even the entire club, which also has skipper Michael Ross, Armel Tabios, Tim Randrup, and Kim Villafuerte in it, was not spared from sanctions as Valve slapped a 20 percent penalty on the team’s DOTA Pro Circuit points that it will eventually earn in the Chongqing Major.
Valve initially told TNC Predator that no deduction will be slapped on the team’s eventual DPC points if it decides to bring in a stand-in for Palad, but the former later decided to hand the demerit instead.
“TNC has mishandled the situation on multiple occasions, making the situation much worse than it needed to be,” Valve further said, pertaining to the club’s move to cover up Palad’s racist remarks. “It seems like TNC is currently not taking proper responsibility for their actions, coupled with the attempted cover up by the team.”
Valve added, “To be clear, TNC is not the victim in this case. It is not okay to cover up the situation, avoid any real sense of responsibility and then deflect it onto the community.”
As of posting, TNC Predator, as per an earlier statement, is weighing its options on whether it will take the penalties and play on in the Chongqing Major or back out instead.
