Nani, Quantic and GomTV with official statements towards the Naniwa incident
One day after being denied his controversial game against NesTea, Johan "Naniwa" Lucchesi, along with his team Quantic Gaming, comes out with a formal statement and apology to his fans, his opponent and to GomTV. In turn, GSL's management have released an official statement themselves, justifying their decision to strip Naniwa of his previously awarded Code S January spot.
Following the events during and after Naniwa's 6-probe rush against NesTea in Group B of the Blizzard Cup, both Quantic Gaming and Mr. Lucchesi offered formal apologies to all the parties involved both directly (such as GomTV) and indirectly (such as the community base) in the incident.
Quantic Gaming:
We want to make it clear that we do not condone NaNiwa’s actions during his match against NesTea. We understand that GOMTV’s decision to revoke NaNiwa’s Code S spot for the next GSL season was not one that was made lightly. He has decided against participating in the coming GSL season as a statement of his sincere regret and in the hopes that he may have a future opportunity to compete in GSL against the world’s best. NaNiwa will continue to play for Quantic, and we will also continue to stand by NaNiwa as he learns and grows as a result of his mistakes.
While we respect and understand GOMTV’s existing decision, we implore GOMTV to consider giving NaNiwa a “second chance” to fulfill his dream to compete in GSL Code S in a future season. For fans, we ask only for your acceptance of our apology, on behalf of our player, and consider offering your patience, understanding, and perhaps your renewed faith in the future with and for NaNiwa.
Johan "Naniwa" Luccesi
“After I played and lost 3 incredible close games, I was extremely upset with myself. I prepared a lot and wanted to show everyone – especially my Swedish fans – that I had what it takes to beat the best. Instead, I let everyone down.
I wasn’t thinking clearly, and acted unprofessionally. At first I didn’t realize how big of a deal it really was, but when I saw how much everyone wanted to see my game against NesTea, I felt terrible and truly began to realize what I had done. I first thought that the match against NesTea was meaningless, but now I realize that it really did mean a lot, and that there’s no such thing as a “meaningless game” in eSports.
I am sincerely sorry to all my fans that looked forward to our rematch. I had something very special prepared just for him, and I’m sure he had something just as special planned himself. To all Korean fans and pro-gamers, especially NesTea, I am so sorry if I offended you by doing what I did. When we meet again in a future match, you can all count on it being a match worth your while. I also want to apologize to Mr Chae, the directors, the casters and all the staff at GOMTV. I now understand how my poor decision disrespected all the hard work they put into running the GSL. I really hope that what I’ve done won’t damage eSports or GOMTV any further.
For a long time, I never really played this game for anyone else other than myself. Now, I realize that it involves so much more than that. I’m not alone playing from my home anymore; there are so many people watching my every game, and wanting to see me perform at my best. I don’t just play for myself anymore, but for all the fans of StarCraft 2 and eSports. Clearly, being a pro-gamer involves a lot more than I initially thought.”
Furthermore, GomTV were also quick with an official statement, explaining why they took the measures they did, namely taking away Naniwa's Code S spot for GSL January, for which he was considered after finishing second at MLG Providence. GSL admit that in paper Naniwa had not broken any official rules (like "using a cheat to gain an unfair advantage"), but according to them the Swede's particular behavior did not entail a "sincere competitive spirit ", was a disappointment to his opponent NesTea and his fans alike and did not match their definition of a progamer.
GomTV also justified their decision to invite SEn and Idra to Code S January, a move that was more or less connected to Naniwa's incident. In the second part of its official statement, the management explains that Naniwa's Code S spot was not a direct reward for him finishing second at Providence but rather that second place put him on a list of high-profile players that were considered by GomTV a Code S material.
GomTV.net:
In 2012 the GSL will have 2 Code S sponsor seeds. These seeds will be determined by outstanding results in international tournaments. In 2011 the GSL schedule luckily matched very well with MLG's schedule. For this reason we were able to introduce a system that allowed high-placing players at MLG to compete in the following GSL season in a regular manner. In 2012 we will again do our best to provide a schedule that matches well with MLG and other international leagues. As the GSL format has changed and a season now lasts for significantly longer, it will this time however not be possible to perfectly match our schedule with MLG's. Apart from that we would also like to consider players of other remarkable tournaments and have therefore introduced this change to our international seeding system.
NaNiWa has been considered as one of the players to receive a Code S seed for the 2012 GSL Season 1 as a part of the this new seeding system due to his recent impressive results. Other players under consideration were IdrA (MLG Orlando 4th, IEM Guangzhou) and Sen (Blizzcon Battle.net Invitational 3rd) among others. During this phase of consideration aforementioned incident happened, which led us to the decision to remove NaNiWa from the top of the list of considered players. This is not to be seen as a direct punishment resulting from the incident, the incident did however understandably have an influence on NaNiWa's position on the list of candidates.
It is further said in GomTV's statement that the way they handled the Naniwa case is influenced by their desire to not tolerate such behaviors which, if permitted, might escalate into situations that neither fans nor players will appreciate. GomTV also hinted that if a Korean player was involved in a similar incident, the penalties might have been much harsher.
Links
TeamLiquid.net - Source
GomTV.net - Source
Following the events during and after Naniwa's 6-probe rush against NesTea in Group B of the Blizzard Cup, both Quantic Gaming and Mr. Lucchesi offered formal apologies to all the parties involved both directly (such as GomTV) and indirectly (such as the community base) in the incident.
Quantic Gaming:
We want to make it clear that we do not condone NaNiwa’s actions during his match against NesTea. We understand that GOMTV’s decision to revoke NaNiwa’s Code S spot for the next GSL season was not one that was made lightly. He has decided against participating in the coming GSL season as a statement of his sincere regret and in the hopes that he may have a future opportunity to compete in GSL against the world’s best. NaNiwa will continue to play for Quantic, and we will also continue to stand by NaNiwa as he learns and grows as a result of his mistakes.
While we respect and understand GOMTV’s existing decision, we implore GOMTV to consider giving NaNiwa a “second chance” to fulfill his dream to compete in GSL Code S in a future season. For fans, we ask only for your acceptance of our apology, on behalf of our player, and consider offering your patience, understanding, and perhaps your renewed faith in the future with and for NaNiwa.
Johan "Naniwa" Luccesi
“After I played and lost 3 incredible close games, I was extremely upset with myself. I prepared a lot and wanted to show everyone – especially my Swedish fans – that I had what it takes to beat the best. Instead, I let everyone down.
I wasn’t thinking clearly, and acted unprofessionally. At first I didn’t realize how big of a deal it really was, but when I saw how much everyone wanted to see my game against NesTea, I felt terrible and truly began to realize what I had done. I first thought that the match against NesTea was meaningless, but now I realize that it really did mean a lot, and that there’s no such thing as a “meaningless game” in eSports.
I am sincerely sorry to all my fans that looked forward to our rematch. I had something very special prepared just for him, and I’m sure he had something just as special planned himself. To all Korean fans and pro-gamers, especially NesTea, I am so sorry if I offended you by doing what I did. When we meet again in a future match, you can all count on it being a match worth your while. I also want to apologize to Mr Chae, the directors, the casters and all the staff at GOMTV. I now understand how my poor decision disrespected all the hard work they put into running the GSL. I really hope that what I’ve done won’t damage eSports or GOMTV any further.
For a long time, I never really played this game for anyone else other than myself. Now, I realize that it involves so much more than that. I’m not alone playing from my home anymore; there are so many people watching my every game, and wanting to see me perform at my best. I don’t just play for myself anymore, but for all the fans of StarCraft 2 and eSports. Clearly, being a pro-gamer involves a lot more than I initially thought.”
Furthermore, GomTV were also quick with an official statement, explaining why they took the measures they did, namely taking away Naniwa's Code S spot for GSL January, for which he was considered after finishing second at MLG Providence. GSL admit that in paper Naniwa had not broken any official rules (like "using a cheat to gain an unfair advantage"), but according to them the Swede's particular behavior did not entail a "sincere competitive spirit ", was a disappointment to his opponent NesTea and his fans alike and did not match their definition of a progamer.
GomTV also justified their decision to invite SEn and Idra to Code S January, a move that was more or less connected to Naniwa's incident. In the second part of its official statement, the management explains that Naniwa's Code S spot was not a direct reward for him finishing second at Providence but rather that second place put him on a list of high-profile players that were considered by GomTV a Code S material.
GomTV.net:
In 2012 the GSL will have 2 Code S sponsor seeds. These seeds will be determined by outstanding results in international tournaments. In 2011 the GSL schedule luckily matched very well with MLG's schedule. For this reason we were able to introduce a system that allowed high-placing players at MLG to compete in the following GSL season in a regular manner. In 2012 we will again do our best to provide a schedule that matches well with MLG and other international leagues. As the GSL format has changed and a season now lasts for significantly longer, it will this time however not be possible to perfectly match our schedule with MLG's. Apart from that we would also like to consider players of other remarkable tournaments and have therefore introduced this change to our international seeding system.
NaNiWa has been considered as one of the players to receive a Code S seed for the 2012 GSL Season 1 as a part of the this new seeding system due to his recent impressive results. Other players under consideration were IdrA (MLG Orlando 4th, IEM Guangzhou) and Sen (Blizzcon Battle.net Invitational 3rd) among others. During this phase of consideration aforementioned incident happened, which led us to the decision to remove NaNiWa from the top of the list of considered players. This is not to be seen as a direct punishment resulting from the incident, the incident did however understandably have an influence on NaNiWa's position on the list of candidates.
It is further said in GomTV's statement that the way they handled the Naniwa case is influenced by their desire to not tolerate such behaviors which, if permitted, might escalate into situations that neither fans nor players will appreciate. GomTV also hinted that if a Korean player was involved in a similar incident, the penalties might have been much harsher.
Links
TeamLiquid.net - Source
GomTV.net - Source
