BLAST has admitted to a "miscommunication" with FaZe Clan, that caused a last-minute confusion when the team attempted to use Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke as a stand-in player for BLAST Premier Spring Groups.
Patrick "es3tag" Hansen joins FaZe Clan roster for BLAST Premier Spring Groups
FaZe Clan's request caused confusion and controversy just days before they were due to make their debut at this year's BLAST Premier Spring Groups. The team had requested to use k0nfig as a stand-in player for Håvard "rain" Nygaard, who is unable to attend the tournament as he is expecting the birth of his child.
This request proved controversial, not only because it seemingly came well after the roster lock, but also because k0nfig was already registered as a substitute player for Heroic.
BLAST ultimately rejected the request - which came as a surprise to both FaZe Clan and k0nfig, who had seemingly been led to believe that BLAST had given them permission. k0nfig had been present for the media day with FaZe Clan, and was in their practice room when BLAST announced their decision to reject him playing for the team.
This naturally caused further confusion and controversy - and BLAST has taken to Twitter to clear things up.
While BLAST doesn't exactly apologise for the confusion, it does acknowledge a "miscommunication" that lead to FaZe believing that k0nfig was free to play for them.
"FaZe requested the use of k0nfig, this request was denied as the player was registered on another team's roster for the event, " said BLAST. "In that process there has been confusion around whether this subsequent emergency substitution request was formally accepted and validated by BLAST."
"After looking into the incident internally, we identified miscommunication and a lack in clarity from BLAST on roster lock timings and k0nfig's eligibility to play in Spring Groups."
In k0nfig's place, BLAST has given permission for FaZe Clan to instead use Patrick "es3tag" Hansen. However, this could potentially cause further confusion in the future - as es3tag is currently on the Ninjas in Pyjamas bench. As such, should FaZe Clan play against Ninjas in Pyjamas during the tournament, es3tag will be "unavailable to play in that match," a situation that BLAST says that "both teams are aware of and have accepted."
Still, the confusion hasn't slowed FaZe Clan down at all - They claimed victory over Complexity Gaming in their Spring Groups 2023 debut, earning a comfortable 2-0 win. While es3tag earned a rating of just 0.87 according to HLTV, he still helped carry the team to victory in their January 20 match.
It has certainly been a confusing start to this year's tournament, which runs from January 19 until January 29. You can see the full match schedule right here, and remember to sign up to claim your free 100% bonus as we enjoy the first CS:GO tournament of the year!
