The VCT LOCK//IN trophy won by Fnatic was damaged as the team returned home from the Valorant event in São Paulo, it has been revealed. It was a deliberate act, according to players and staff.
Fnatic star Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev wrote on Twitter that the trophy was damaged while the baggage was being transferred, adding that “someone” purposefully took the silverware out of its case and “broke it”.
Colin ‘CoJo’ Johnson, Fnatic’s Team Director, confirmed on Reddit that the trophy “was definitely dropped/smashed” in transit. “Filing a claim and speaking to Riot,” CoJo said. “Hopefully, [we] can find a way to either fix it or get a new one.”
Someone took the trophy from our case and broke it during British airways baggage transit 😂 pic.twitter.com/ijGkXitXfm
— FNATIC Derke (@Derke) March 6, 2023
In images shared by Derke and teammate Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov, it is visible that the VCT logo, painted in green as a tribute to the event’s hosting country, Brazil, is damaged. Some of the pieces that comprise the logo appear to have been broken off.
British Airways, which operated the flight, responded to Chronicle’s tweet and asked for more information to look into the matter.
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Fnatic won VCT LOCK//IN on March 4 after beating LOUD in a tense five-map grand final. The title was a long time coming for Fnatic’s team, which had been to the final of VCT 2021 Stage 2 Masters Reykjavík.
As Twitter users (and Fnatic itself) began to speculate that a LOUD fan was responsible for damaging the trophy, Derke played down the incident.
“Don’t take it too seriously and send hate to Brazilians or LOUD fans,” the Finnish duelist said. “We met a lot of them and they were always nice and asking for pictures. There are always a couple of idiots in every country but that doesn’t mean everyone is the same. It could happen to anyone.”