TnC and Mineski are two teams that have already spoken out against the last minute change for GESC: Thailand regional qualifiers.
As the Grand Finals of GESC: Indonesia is edging closer and closer —a champion expected to be declared in mere hours, the organizers are receiving public backlash from SEA teams regarding their next event —GESC: Thailand.
The SEA qualifiers for the second confirmed event by GESC were scheduled to start tomorrow, March 19th. In the witching hours before teams were expected to make an appearance in the qualifier lobbies, GESC notified them that the qualifiers would be postponed until April. This has been noted quickly by teams to be quite an imposition for them.
TnC took to twitlonger to express their frustration saying that "Cancelling the tournament/qualifier 1 day prior to the said date is very unprofessional." and "Now, we are hours away from the supposed to be qualifier and the guy in charge haven't given a response yet. We feel that we are left hanging, teams do need to prepare. I hope they know that."
Mineski threw in their support, echoing the same sentiment on their facebook page but taking a much stronger stance, drawing a very hard line in the sand.
During the proposed period, there will be an additional 3x Major qualifiers, which will cause an incredible amount of clashes. The organiser also told us initially, the entire point of scheduling the qualifiers in march was to avoid conflicts with major qualifiers.
Teams were informed a few weeks in advance and Mineski-DOTA is specifically bootcamping in Bangkok for this qualifier. The team has put in a lot of time, money and effort, to prepare for the qualifier based on the schedule provided by the organisers.
Mineski-DOTA does not agree to any organiser changing schedules significantly at such last notice, nor should organisers think they can "strongarm" teams due to their Major/Minor status.
We have spoken to other teams who are in the qualifiers and are in agreement on the issue. Teams are ready to revert back to the original schedule and play on the 19th - 20th.”
Execration and Team Admiral are the other two teams that were scheduled to compete tomorrow. However, yesterday Jacky "Eternal Envy" Mao expressed his frustration that Fnatic was not invited to participate in the qualifiers, with two teams that are ranked lower than them assuming spots.
It would seem that the conflict is due to Fnatic being in Indonesia for the minor this weekend that they had participated in and ultimately took 5-6th place at.
Other regional qualifiers are already underway, and SG e-sports have already claimed their place as the South American representatives earlier this month.
GESC: Thailand is expected to be held May 9-12th in Bangkok at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre Hall 106. Eight teams will be competing for the $300,000 prize pool and 300 DPC points. Like GESC: Indonesia, there will be one team directly invited, six regional qualifiers and one special qualifier for local teams in Thailand.
