Valve Heavily Penalize PSG.LGD For Failing To Properly Report Covid-19 Case

PSG.LGD, among the favorites to win the Dota 2 T11, had landed themselves in hot water with organizers Valve earlier this week. They had failed to report a positive COVID-19 in their camp, which led to penalties being imposed on their upcoming games.

Their penalties involved a loss of priority selections and reserve draft time against their day three opponents, but a subsequent COVID-19 case in opponents Royal Never Give Up’s (RNG’s) camp meant that PSG.LGD picked up a win through forfeiture.

PSG.LGD said they were unaware

It wasn’t a member of PSG’s playing unit or coaching staff who contracted COVID-19 at the event, but general manager Pan Fei. Fei reportedly tested positive on October 16 and had begun to isolate himself. PSG later announced on their Weibo that they didn’t report the case to Valve immediately because they didn’t realize they had to, seeing as Fei was not listed as an attendee.

Image Credits | ONE Esports

As a result of the oversight, PSG were forced to play three of their games on day three with penalties imposed. Against RNG, they were denied priority selection over Radiant or Dire. They were also denied reserve draft time for bans and picks against their two remaining opponents, BetBoom Esports and Gaimin Gladiators.

RNG forfeit game against PSG.LGD

PSG.LGD’s game against RNG was touted to be a top spar between two Chinese rivals, but began with a one-sided victory to the former. Before the second game could begin, RNG themselves had what they described as a medical issue – later confirmed by them to be a positive COVID-19 test for player Lu “Somnus” Yao. This resulted in a forfeiture, and a 2-0 win by default to PSG.LGD, who had been deemed to be the original defaulters in the whole saga.

RNG confirmed on their Weibo page that Somnus was being treated for the infection at the hospital. They did not register a sixth player, so it was unclear at the time whether they would have to draft in a replacement, or whether their one remaining game against Hokari would take place.

Later that day, RNG updated that other players, Daniel “Ghost” Chan Kok Hong, Yang “Chalice” Shenyi, and Hu “kaka” Liangzhi had also tested positive for COVID-19 after two PCR tests. Every player of their squad save Yap “xNova” Jian Wei was now infected, but their final group stage game eventually went on as planned.

All squad members played their last game of the day in isolation, wearing masks the entire time. The PGL crew members weren’t allowed inside their rooms to film the drafts.

PSG For Upper Bracket

None of PSG.LGD’s other players have tested positive. While Pan Fei managed to isolate in time, not reporting the case did end up causing a bit of an impact when PSG tied their games against BetBoom Esports and Gaimin Gladiators 1-1.

PSG finished pretty comfortably on day four considering the drama of the previous day. They’re the third seed behind Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid with a 12-6 record and can look forward to the Upper Bracket next week.

RNG were not so lucky, however. They were flattened by Evil Geniuses in their first round, then had to forfeit their game against PSG, before being beaten 0-2 by Hokori.

Another 0-2 defeat to OG took a heavy toll on their standings, dropping them out of the upper bracket contention down to seed number six. They’re now tied with Hokoro with a 9-9 record after four series wins and losses, and one tie.