KARL "KARLTZY" Nepomuceno went live on his YouTube channel and played a few games, answering some of the community's questions directed to him.
One of them asked as to why ECHO decided to let go of their Sibol qualifier dreams, and confirmed if Sanford "Sanford' Vinuya was really banned from the overall qualifiers.
So what exactly happened? Here's what KarlTzy revealed.
"Wala kami sa Sibol guys kasi na-ban si [San]Ford," started the Season 12 MVP.
There have been rumors swirling around that Sanford's age could be a hindrance but KarlTzy assured that it wasn't the case.
"Na-ban si Ford guys kaya hindi na kami natuloy. Hindi [dahil] sa age. Na-ban siya kasi tinanggihan niya yung last offer sa kanya. Diba nanalo yung Bren sa Sibol, sa IESF? Siya kasi dapat yung EXP doon."
"Tapos tinanggihan niya so na-ban siya ng one year."
Some might point out that Sanford is extremely picky with his decision, however Karl reiterated that there were other factors that should be considered.
"Hindi kasalanan ni Ford kasi siya lang mag-isa. Ongoing yung MPL noon so mahahati yung practice namin noon. Siya lang mag-isang kukunin, e di mawawala kami (ECHO) ng EXP lane," he revealed.
Given what KarlTzy mentioned, this ultimately revealed one of the question marks that fans had regarding the qualifiers: Who were the players from ECHO who could've joined Sibol alongside Bren?
Sibol responds
Given these revelations, Jab Escutin, the general manager of Sibol revealed to the press on their overall decision.
"The Sibol Qualifiers is a voluntary selection process where individual athletes aspiring to represent the Philippines in any of the PESO (Philippine Esports Organization) Sanctioned Global events participate and have their skills tested to be selected as part of the National Team," he started.
"Athletes voluntarily signing up and competing in the qualifiers are informed that they are participating as individuals and may be asked to serve their country as part of an all star team as determined by the team game's head coach via the combine phase of the qualifier."
And since these athletes have decided to join the qualifiers hoping to be chosen, Sibol expects the players to be available to serve the country.
"Athletes that are not able to commit to finishing the qualifiers and fully participate in the selection process and ultimately serve their country when selected for whatever reason are advised to not participate in the voluntary qualifiers as this will waste time and resources of the National Qualifiers and may hinder opportunities for other aspiring athletes."
ECHO declines the invite
And applying that to Sanford, here's the overall verdict.
"Sanford Vinuya denied the privilege to serve his country solely based on the reason that his entire team (which lost the qualifier) was not selected to represent the country, saying that it will affect his team's performance in the upcoming tournaments," stated Escutin.
"We strongly advise individual athletes not to participate in the qualifiers if they only plan to serve their country if things go their way or have special conditions that hinders the opportunity of others to participate and serve the country. Because of that, yes, Sanford Vinuya is banned from participating in any Sibol activities."
Then when talking about ECHO's participation in the qualifiers, the Sibol general manager praised the team for their decision to decline the invite.
"I would also like to point out that Sibol has graciously invited Team ECHO to participate in this year's Sibol Qualifiers with the exception of Sanford Vinuya. I commend them for properly declining the invitation as they cannot commit to finishing the qualifiers and commit to individually serving the country if any of their players are selected."
Escutin likewise mentioned the tenure of the ban which began on February 2023 and will end on February 28, 2025.
As ECHO announced their departure from the IESF qualifiers, RRQ Kaito grinded their way, giving a platform for Coach Jian Paulo "Pauloxpert" Munsayac to have a say on this year's roster.
Coach Pauloxpert will select players from RRQ Kaito, Team Falcons AP.Bren, Smart Omega, and RV FRYD Esports.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
