Astralis is threatening to withdraw from BLAST tournaments in a dispute over the recent partnership with Saudi Arabian project NEOM.
In a statement given to the Danish newspaper Politiken on Monday Astralis’ management has announced that they are considering a boycott of BLAST and its tournaments. Reason for the dispute is BLAST’s newest sponsorship with NEOM.
The NEOM project is a planned “Esport City” set to be constructed in northwestern Saudi Arabia, backed up by the Saudi Arabian government.
Astralis’ CEO Anders Hørsholt put focus on the violations against human rights by the royalty of Saudi Arabia. BLAST has not issued any statement in response so far.
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Other areas in which Saudi Arabia is often criticized are worker conditions and discrimination against woman and members of the LBQT community.
Astralis’ threat of boycott is especially notable considering the past that both companies shared. BLAST and Astralis were part of RFRSH Entertainment in 2019. It was only in July that both companies separated from each other.
Astralis is one of the twelve partner teams working together with BLAST.
Since BLAST and NEOM announced the partnership many CS:GO personalities have already spoken out against NEOM. Among them was also the new Team Liquid Coach Jason “moses” O’Toole.
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