CDL Official Broadcast Advised Teams To Intentionally Throw Pivotal Match
Sportsmanship and respect might not be esports' forte, giving that teabagging, shooting bodies, and trash-talk are pretty much a staple of the gameplay. Still, it's crucial to uphold competitive integrity to the highest standard, no matter the antics. That's why the Call of Duty League official broadcast talent advising professional teams has raised a fair few eyebrows, especially with some questionable performances following the advice.
As the Call of Duty League finds its feet again after a month-long mid-season break, the seeding for Major III has thrown up some huge shock wins, leaving a first-ever seeding tie-breaker game to be played out.
With an LA Thieves side looking to pull themselves out of the dire straights they've recently been accustomed to, and a Florida Mutineers roster who have had an equally confusing run of form as of late, both sat on the exact same record following five qualifying matches. A seventh to eighth qualifier was then set in stone to settle the Major seeding fixtures. With OpTic Texas waiting for the winner and Minnesota ROKKR coming up for the loser, the CDL broadcast team sent some questionable advice.
CDL Broadcast Team Advised LA Thieves And Florida Mutineers To Throw Tiebreaker Game
As per every matchup on the CDL's YouTube broadcast, the 'Keys To Victory' section is presented by the talent, breaking down how each team can win the game. However, with OpTic Texas deemed as a tougher fixture than Minnesota ROKKR for the tiebreaker winners, the CDL actually advised the teams not to win.
Albeit in a joking fashion, Florida Mutineers' Keys To Victory read as, "Throw in some accidental team kills", while LA Thieves' said, "Don't bounce back from tough L", indicating that neither team should try.
Click to enlargeWhile the desk and some fans found the humorous side, Call of Duty Esports General Manager Daniel Tsay apologised, saying, "Obviously this was a joke, but it shouldn't have been put up there full stop."
CDL Major III Qualifiers Heavily Criticised
Minnesota ROKKR's 5-0 record in qualifying was seemingly downplayed by the broadcast team, despite Alyssa "Allycxt" Parker's best efforts to level the playing field. Many fans of the league were disgruntled at the hints towards throwing the game, believing ROKKR was disrespected and that the competitive integrity was forgotten.
The teams, whether aware of the CDL advice or not, didn't take the tiebreaker as serious as in their previous five matches, as evident by the experimental use of the Tommy Gun (M1921) for the first time this season.
However, this wasn't the only controversy of the weekend either, as Florida Mutineers were presented with a huge slice of fortune in their match against Boston Breach. A PC crash to Thomas "TJHaly" Haly and Kenyen "Capsidal" Sutton saw the game five, round 11, fixture replayed, although the Glide Bomb and Strafing Run of TJHaly were lost in the reset, proving pivotal for Boston who lost the round despite having all of the advantages before the reset.
The CDL has often been criticised for their lack of adaptations to technical difficulties, especially during the online era of play.
