Against All Authority zostało zdyskwalifikowane z rozgrywek LCS. Nie byli oni w stanie zagrać dzisiejszego meczu z powodu braku zastępcy. Jeden z graczy aAa nie mógł zagrać w dzisiejszym meczu w związku z problemami rodzinnymi. Nie udzielono żadnych dokładnych informacji na ten temat – uszanowano prywatność gracza. Pomimo posiadania aż 3 graczy rezerwowych, aAa nie było w stanie wystawić żadnego z nich do gry z powodu zbyt napiętego terminarza. Starania Riotu i propozycja przełożenia meczu na sobotę rano nie zmieniła sytuacji, więc podjęto decyzję o dyskwalifikacji aAa z gry. Skutkuje to awansem SK do półfinałów, zaś francuska drużyna może się starać o miejsce podczas wakacyjnej serii LCS. Warto wspomnieć o honorowej postawie SK, którzy chcieli zrobić wszystko, by mecz się odbył – nie popierali oni decyzji Riotu o dyskwalifikacji i byli gotowi dopasować się do przeciwników.

Oficjalne oświadczenie Riotu:

LCS Fans,

We wanted to give you an update on the situation with the SK Gaming vs. aAa match that was delayed earlier today. Unfortunately, we’ve made an official ruling to disqualify aAa from the EU LCS playoffs. This is obviously an extremely disappointing situation as we’re missing out on a great match-up between two fantastic teams fighting for their LCS lives. This difficult decision was made because aAa was unable to field a roster of eligible players, and was necessary in order to maintain the structural integrity of our league.

Earlier this week, a starting aAa team member sadly had to return home for a family emergency and would not be able to make it back to play in today’s match (we want to respect the individual and team’s privacy and can’t share more information). None of their three eligible substitutes were able to act as such in time for these matches despite the best efforts of aAa to scramble for an alternative. The LCS did everything in its power to adjust playoff scheduling to accommodate the team’s needs, including a possible makeup match on Saturday morning, but the team was still unable to fulfill the roster requirements stated in the league rules.

An alternative option was raised to allow for aAa to use a substitute not eligible on their roster, but this would’ve violated the official rules and put SK in the unfair position of playing against a team composition they were never allowed to practice for. We had extensive conversations with aAa and SK to try and find a solution (to SK’s credit, they did their best to accommodate – those guys are studs!). However, in the end the league felt it was unfair to SK and other teams to deviate from a substitution policy that could potentially correlate to an unfair disadvantage for an opponent. Setting this precedent would lead to a very slippery slope.

Our sincere apologies to all of our fans for the inconvenience this created. Despite the elimination of this match, we are extremely excited for the remainder of playoff action occurring in Europe and NA.