FORMER MLBB analyst Ralph Andrei “Leathergoods” Llabres did not mince his words about Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio’s vlog about the hospitalization of Nexplay player John Paul "H2wo" Salonga and the resulting Game 1 disqualification in yesterday's Sibol qualifiers.
Posting a link to Spin.ph's earlier report on the vlog, Leathergoods, who is affiliated with Bren Esports, immediately criticized Dogie’s assertion that "Mas priority nila i-live yung game kaysa sa health ng bata."
“Kinda weird that Sibol Executives decision to 1-0 the match was 'gusto i-live ung match imbis na prioritize health ng bata' when that focus should be on the Team and not the tournament provider or event organizer,” said the former AoV player in a Facebook post.
Perhaps, he suggested, team management should also look into how they prioritize their own players' health.
“This is still the qualifiers and I guess personally speaking, I know that the Sibol Selection is a big tournament and something that every Esports athlete would dream of. But I would never in my life exchange the health of my players for a tournament. As management or owners or even leaders of teams, please prioritize your player health above all things.”
'Walang special treatment,' wrote Coach Leathergoods
One line jumped out in his post: “Walang special treatment,” which Leathergoods underscored by his thoughts on Nexplay’s substitute players.
“Also the event will not stop because of 1 player as a team consists of 5 main players + 2 substitutes,” he wrote.
He further expressed that Nexplay should have just accept their fate and use what they currently have at their disposal.
“Same with any other sport, if ma-injure ang star player niyo deal with that injury the best you can and play with the cards you are dealt with."
Llabres also questioned Nexplay's decision to not field their reserves, writing, “Medyo surprising lang na why would I include sub players if I don’t even want them to play in the first place. Then why register their names as players[?] It would feel like a slap across the face towards the sub players, if I wasn’t confident in letting them play or do their job.”
Blacklist could've disqualified Nexplay
While Dogie has vented his frustrations about Sibol's automatic 1-0 lead, Llabres opined that the punishments could’ve been more severe, calling the penalty a mere "slap on the wrist."
“What happened here is something that literally the Selection process has no control over and the decision to push through with just a 1 game lose penalty despite the delay caused not only to the tournament but more so to Blacklist International,” said the former MLBB coach.
He added: “[B]lacklist could have pushed for complete disqualification as per the rule book.”
In the end he encouraged that teams should acknowledge the health concerns of players as well as the rules indicated by tournament organizers.
“I really hope teams would understand that as we want all the players to be healthy and ready for battle. This does not change the fact that we have rules to uphold and we have to make fair decisions.”
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