T1’s Valorant roster was forced to forfeit against TSM after a Riot Games competitive ruling found that T1’s coach had violated the Valorant Champions Tour rules.
The 2022 Valorant Champions circuit is well underway, with hundreds of teams battling it out in the first open qualifier in hopes of securing their spot at Challengers 1.
Six North American teams have already secured their tickets to Challengers, and another six slots are up for grabs.
However, on January 29, T1 and TSM met on the same side of the bracket to duke it out. Despite T1 winning the first map, and being four rounds up on the second map at half-time, they were forced to forfeit the series against TSM.
T1 forced to forfeit against TSM
During the best-of-three series on January 29, TSM player Yassine ‘Subroza’ Taoufik revealed on Twitter that T1’s coach was typing to his team mid-game. Valorant Champions Tour rulebook states that any communication to players during a game is prohibited, except during tactical and technical pauses.
In a reply, Subroza said that the unnamed T1 coach accidentally typed in all chat, though it’s unclear what was said. TSM reported the rule violation to the tournament admin, and during half-time in the second game, T1 forfeited the entire series.
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Shortly after, Riot Games posted an official competitive ruling stating that T1 violated unauthorized communications rule 7.2.11.
VCT Challengers Competitive Ruling: T1 pic.twitter.com/GTkHsSTB4I
— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) January 30, 2022
“T1 will forfeit their January 29th match against TSM in the North American VALORANT Champions Tour Open Qualifier 1 due to violating rules regarding unauthorized communication during a match,” the ruling read.
“The Competitive Operations team was made aware of evidence of a T1 coach providing instruction to T1 players while their match against TSM was in progress.”
TSM will now continue in the bracket and will go up against Akrew in their next match, whereas T1’s forfeit has knocked them out of the first open qualifier. Fortunately, they will have another opportunity to come back in the second qualifier that kicks off on February 4.