Earlier in the day Stephano played in and won the SCAN Invitational (beating Grubby in the finals) and as a result requested that ONOG delay his match so he could participate. ONOG delayed Stephano's match to accommodate, but the tournament ran into late night on CET (2:30 AM) and Stephano stated that it was too late and that he must play another day or forfeit, and logged off. ONOG ultimately decided that they could not delay the match to the next day.
The One Nation of Gamers Starcraft 2 Invitational was a 16-players invitational tournament held by One Nation of Gamers, a network of BarCraft in North America. The event was broadcast by MrBitter, TumbaSC, Axeltoss, and NerdSwagger. Four invites were chosen via a poll.
Brackets, results and other information at Liquipedia:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/One_Nation_of_Gamers_Starcraft_2_Invitational
Statement from Deric, President of ONOG:
Source: ONOG
Hello, this is Deric, the President of One Nation of Gamers. While we were gearing up to begin the 3rd place match, Stephano stated that it was too late for him to play and that he was going to be going to sleep. He gave us the ultimatium that if he can't play another day he will forfeit the match and then logged off.
If One Nation of Gamers is going to work out and do our part to grow eSports, we have to be an organization that puts the fans first. Given that principle, I came to the decision to penalize Stephano and move him to 4th place, have Catz and Illusion play for 2nd/3rd, and have the victor play against Kas.
Everyone involved with One Nation of Gamers has worked incredibly hard -for months- to raise the $3,000 that we've put up for grabs. It's not a lot to everyone, but it's a lot to us and represents month of volunteer work. We decided to run this tournament to give back to eSports, we wanted to help the pros earn a little more and we wanted to provide some great content to the fans. We believe everyone deserves to see an appropriate final series for $1,500.
I realize this decision might be unpopular and I apologize profusely. Lastly, I would like to thank Kas, Catz and Illusion for agreeing to stay and finish these matches out for the fans.
If One Nation of Gamers is going to work out and do our part to grow eSports, we have to be an organization that puts the fans first. Given that principle, I came to the decision to penalize Stephano and move him to 4th place, have Catz and Illusion play for 2nd/3rd, and have the victor play against Kas.
Everyone involved with One Nation of Gamers has worked incredibly hard -for months- to raise the $3,000 that we've put up for grabs. It's not a lot to everyone, but it's a lot to us and represents month of volunteer work. We decided to run this tournament to give back to eSports, we wanted to help the pros earn a little more and we wanted to provide some great content to the fans. We believe everyone deserves to see an appropriate final series for $1,500.
I realize this decision might be unpopular and I apologize profusely. Lastly, I would like to thank Kas, Catz and Illusion for agreeing to stay and finish these matches out for the fans.
Stephano on the incident:
Source: Twitter
MillStephano @MillStephano
I dont understand why people can get mad cuz i gave up for onog, even if i had played the game would have been awful.
MillStephano @MillStephano
And the racist coments abut french people is not necessary : )
I dont understand why people can get mad cuz i gave up for onog, even if i had played the game would have been awful.
MillStephano @MillStephano
And the racist coments abut french people is not necessary : )
Statement from Stephano:
Source: millenium.org
I wanted to apologize to ONOG Staff and all my fans. I didn't know that the event was casted live from a Barcraft, and also that so much people were watching my games in finals. I had played two competitions the same day and handling time was an issue. As a result, it was difficult to find a good compromise to satisfy everyone. Be sure that I understand my mistake and all it means to the ONOG Staff, that's why I completely agree with their decision regarding my ranking. I will do my best in the future to prevent this kind of situation.