SK Gaming and Team X have both been disqualified from ELEAGUE due to roster changes, the tournament's commissioner Min-Sik Ko has revealed.

The Brazilian team had secured a berth in the quarter-finals after topping Group A while still at Luminosity, whereas the Danish team were due to play in the last-chance bracket after finishing in second place in Group C while representing SK.

ELEAGUE has not yet formally commented on this matter, but the tournament's commissioner, Min-Sik Ko, explained that the Brazilian players' recent move to SK Gaming and the Danish team's departure from the German organisation "do not comply" with the league's rules.

The reason for this is that neither SK nor Luminosity can field the roster that they submitted at the start of the season, which means that the league's spots belong to organisations and not to the competing teams.



Brazilians handed heavy blow

On May 31, Min-Sik Ko publicly stated that "there were no plans to sanction either team", but he was merely referring to the contract dispute between SK and Luminosity that had been reported days earlier.

SK Gaming captain Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo took to Twitter to express his shock at the decision, which, in his eyes, punishes his team for seeking better conditions.

First time in Counter Strike players are been punished for getting better and evolving professional-wise. Out of e league due to change org. — Gabriel FalleN T. (@LG_FalleN) 6 July 2016

One day we will have players fighting for our rights. A players union shall in reality exist. Players lost a lot today. — Gabriel FalleN T. (@LG_FalleN) 6 July 2016

Those sentiments were echoed by Team X member Michael "⁠Friis⁠" Jørgensen, who claims that his team were "ignored" by ELEAGUE officials during the process.

Not enough other leagues are treating us like shit after our contract ran out. But ignoring me during the whole situation here is so ...... — Michael Jørgensen (@OfficialFriis) 6 July 2016

Cloud9 have been moved from the last-chance bracket straight to the playoffs as a result of this decision, with Renegades and Gambit Gaming having both earned spots in the last-chance bracket, which now looks as follows:

The top two teams from the last-chance qualifier, which will run from July 12-15, will secure spots in the single-elimination playoffs, joining the following six teams:

Luminosity & SK Gaming are no longer eligible to compete in our first season due to roster changes that do not comply with @EL rules — Min-Sik Ko (@minsikko) 6 July 2016

*UPDATE* The article has been updated to give more context to Min-Sik Ko's May 31 tweet, which merely referred to the reported contract dispute between SK and Luminosity. At the time, the ELEAGUE official stated that there were no plans to sanction either team, but the Brazilian team would only sign for SK on July 1.