One player may have lost out on $150,000 due to an error made by the organizers of the FIFAe World Cup grand final.
On Wednesday, Australian player Mark11, who is part of the UK esports organization Futwiz, competed against Dutch player Manubachoore from Team Gullit in the final. After the two legs of the final resulted in a draw, the finalists had to compete in a tense penalty shootout to determine the ultimate victor.
Mark11 noticed that his controller overlay was being displayed on the main screen, which meant that his opponent and the other people watching could see his targeting. He attempted to bring this to the attention of the competition admin, but was disregarded.
At the World Cup finals of the huge FIFA esports tournament, with a prize pool of $300,000 for 1st place, the penalty kick controller was shown live on stream. Player Mark11 noticed a problem and notified the admins, but they did not intervene in the tournament. As a result, opposing player Manu went on to win, leaving Mark with a loss of $150,000.
The Australian competitor lost the penalty shootout 5-4, meaning they received the second-place prize of $150,000 instead of the top prize of $300,000.
Destroyed beyond repair due to unnecessary circumstances.
Futwiz described the dramatic final as a "disgrace", noting that Mark had raised the issue three times before penalties started, yet no action was taken. As a result, they felt the biggest final of the year was ruined due to avoidable circumstances.
FIFAe responded on Twitter to the issue of players being informed that their input overlays may be broadcast. They stated that the same situation occurred in the semi-final without any requests for a restart from the players. Furthermore, FIFAe assured that no player had an advantage over the other, since the opposing team only watched their own screen.
