The International is the biggest event in Dota 2. This year the stakes are even higher with the $40 million prize pool, the largest so far in an esports tournament. With all of that, there is the expectation that the event should be top-notch.
If teams are to be believed, the reality is far from expectation. The practice rooms assigned to some teams don't appear to be conducive. Team Spirit came out with a tweet where their manager Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov was complaining about the room.
According to Korb3n, the room was so small that the players couldn’t even lean back on their chairs without hitting another. In addition, it seems that they were playing in what looks like the kitchen or dining area of the room.
As if that’s not enough, Korb3n revealed as well that they’ve been in the room for more than an hour and there was still no internet. He said that it seems other teams managed to get good practice rooms. He ended by stating that maybe the rooms assigned were based on DPC points.
Spirit may just have drawn the short of the stick. As it turns out, others are experiencing it too. OG Manager Valter “Shootsgud“ Gomes revealed in a tweet that indeed the practice rooms are far from decent. In their case, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov apparently can’t move his chair or if he does, it goes against the chair of Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen. Shootsgud did say that they had no problems with the rooms they were sleeping in.
So far, it’s only Spirit and OG that have raised these concerns.
While there could be several reasons why this happened to both teams, it’s not sitting well for many fans. The rather shoddy treatment of the teams and players is unexpected for a tournament that has brought in a lot of money. Just so you know, Valve raked in around $160 million from the Dota 2 Battle Pass to support the tournament.
With TI10 just days away, it won’t be surprising to know if other issues come up.
What about you? What did you think about this news?
