FTW and Prodigy have been disqualified from the closed qualifier for the ZOTAC Cup Masters European Regional Finals for cheating, the tournament organisers have revealed.

In a statement shared by LDLC manager Loïc "⁠RegnaM⁠" Péron, ZOTAC's Ryan "Flakes" Oliver explained that the decision was made "after a lengthy investigation".

FTW had qualified for the double-elimination bracket after winning three out of four Swiss matches, beating Forge, LDLC and Valiance, while Prodigy were still in the race for a playoff spot, with a 2-2 record.

ZOTAC Cup Masters qualifier marred by cheating cases

The pair's disqualification has forced ZOTAC to make "major development changes" to its platform, with the new structure involving "additional matches for teams who were otherwise eliminated". The new bracket will be released at 15:30 and matches will start 30 minutes later.

"We understand that this is still an inconvenience to a lot of the players, but we are confident that disqualifying those two teams was the right decision," Flakes added.

Kinguin, Tempo Storm, x-kom and tomorrow are the first four sides through to the eight-team playoffs. The top four teams of the qualifier will secure spots at the $20,000 Europe Regional Finals, in Milan, next month.