Team Spirit posted a statement on the situation on social media, explaining their reasoning behind the move and current events. “The current events force us to abandon our plans to expand the infrastructure in Moscow and focus on relocating our club’s employees and team to Belgrade. … Esports has never known borders and it has never been tied to a dot on the map.”
The nationality and living situation of their players proved to be one of the main reasons for the decision. “The accessibility of esports has always been its unique feature. Wherever you live, whatever you do, whatever you believe in, the doors to esports have always been open for you. However everything is changing, and one of these changes is the current situation between Russia and Ukraine, where many of our players and employees come from. Given the circumstances, both practical and ethical, the decision to relocate seems like the only right one.”
— Team Spirit (@Team__Spirit) March 24, 2022
Team Spirit indeed does harbor quite a few players from both Russia and Ukraine, looking at rosters such as Dota 2 and their CS:GO one. The announcement itself did raise some eyebrows due to the team avoiding the word ‘war’, which they quickly responded to. “We are not afraid of using the word war. We’ve used it in our statements in the past and we won’t walk it back.”
Also read:
- Team Spirit completes amazing run and wins The International 10
- SG e-sports and Team Spirit make The International 10 (CIS & SA)
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