The Ukrainian national CS:GO and Dota 2 teams have withdrawn from the IESF World Esports Championship 2023 after the organization lifted the ban on Russian teams.
The decision comes after members of the International Esports Federation (IESF) voted in favor of letting Russian players compete under their country’s name again following a ban imposed in 2022 because of the war in Ukraine.
According to a statement issued by the Russian Esports Federation (RESF), 32 delegates voted in favor of Russia’s reinstatement, 13 voted against, and 25 abstained. A proposal put forward by the Ukrainian Esports Federation (UESF) to suspend RESF from the IESF was rejected by the congress, the Russian Federation added.
Ukraine’s Dota 2 team was the first to announce that it was withdrawing from the event, forfeiting the lower bracket match against Indonesia. “After the news and the fact that this decision to unban Russia is final, [there is] no desire to compete anymore,” Ukraine support Ivan ‘Kidaro’ Bondarev is quoted by Cybersport.ru as saying.
On X/Twitter, Ukrainian esports organization IKLA, whose CS:GO team was due to play Serbia on September 1 in the quarter-finals of the IESF CS:GO competition, announced that the squad is pulling out of the event.
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Ukraine National Team Concludes Participation in @iesf_official 2023Due to the disgraceful decision by IESF regarding the re-entry of members from a terrorist country into future competitions, the Ukrainian Esports Federation refuses to continue the participation of our… pic.twitter.com/ymUTTeCJCX
— IKLA (@iklagg) August 30, 2023
The IESF has not yet issued a statement on the lifting of Russia’s ban. The UESF vowed to challenge this decision in court and accused delegates of taking bribes.
“The international federation is already mired in corruption scandals,” the UESF said on Telegram, seemingly referencing a July report by Romanian media outlet ReporterIS detailing the organization’s murky finances.
The 2023 IESF WEC is taking place in Iași, Romania, and features tournaments in CS:GO, Dota 2, FIFA, Tekken 7, Mobile Legends, and PUBG Mobile. It is the 15th world championship organized by the IESF, which brings together 140 esports federations from all over the world.