A Filipino Esports player has been banend from a Dota 2 tournament in China over alleged racism.
According to Kotaku, a Filipino Dota player was banned from a Chinese Dota 2 tournament for typing racist slurs in a chat.
22-year-old Carlo ‘Kuku’ Palad had typed “ching chong” in a chat during a pub game. Palad plays for Philippine team TNC Predator.
TNC’s manager claimed that “ching chong” was a handle used by one of the other players and was not intended to be used as a racial slur. However, he later retracted the claim.
Dota 2’s publisher Valve received pressure from Chinese fans on Steam to take action. Valve responded by stating it would not tolerate racist behaviour but asked teams to hold their players accountable.
TNC deducted 50% of Palad’s earnings from the Kuala Lumpur Major in which the team finished in fifth place. Half a month’s salary from the team manager went to an anti-racism organisation.
The team had planned to have Palad play in the Chongqing Major but then claimed that Chinese authorities were threatening to cancel the event or not let Palad into the country.
TNC added that Palad was not officially banned but tournament organisers could not guarantee his safety.
In support of Palad, Dota 2 casters including Grant Harris threatened to pull out of the tournament if he was not allowed to attend.
“We all make mistakes and 1 mistake should not forbid you from playing at a tournament that potentially decides your whole career,” Harris said.
Valve eventually confirmed that Palad would be banned from the event and TNC would face a 20% point penalty.
“TNC contacted Valve last Tuesday, asking if they would get a DPC point penalty for replacing Kuku; we told them that they wouldn’t,” Valve said in the post. “We assumed that they were then working on a plan to replace Kuku with another player. However it seems like TNC is currently not taking proper responsibility for their actions, coupled with the attempted cover up by the team, so we are now stepping in directly and banning Kuku from attending this event. 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. We expect them to disagree with this.”
“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,” Dota 2‘s publisher Valve said.
“However, it seems like TNC is currently not taking proper responsibility for their actions, coupled with the attempted cover-up by the team, so we are now stepping in directly and banning Kuku from attending this event.”
TNC responded in a statement saying, “TNC and Kuku fully understand the gravity of the mistakes committed, which is why we have exhausted every avenue to talk with all parties involved, especially the aggrieved.”
