Violent details emerge in Sadokist altercation
IEM Rio has not been without its share of controversy, with concerns regarding fan interference to computer crashes plaguing ESL in the opening days of their long-awaited Brazilian event. The tournament organizer was able to solve the crowd concerns by removing the X-Ray from in-stadium broadcasts, to the initial displeasure of fans who have since grown accustomed to it. With the PCs, the problems have seemed to go away much to the delight of everyone involved.
One issue that has not escaped the fans' mind, is how Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett ended up being fired by ESL in the middle of IEM Rio in a vague "incident". Now, details have emerged regarding his departure which describe a chaotic scene that ended with the police called in the middle of the night.
Sources have confirmed to Dust2.us that the night of the incident, Sadokist had been heavily drinking at a bar before traveling back at night to the ESL hotel which houses all of the players, talent, and staff. It was at the hotel that the Canadian moved into a hotel ballroom where the TO had set up several PCs for talent to play games on during their downtime. Several individuals confirmed to Dust2.us that in this room, it appears that Sadokist got into a verbal argument and threw an object at a group of people who were filming promotional material for Gaules and FURIA, which in turn caused a argument between the caster and the group. After this, it was the catalyst for Trivett's escalation from being inebriated to violent. Somehow, during a scuffle, Trivett smashed a TV within the room, prompting a response from staff.
People who have witnessed the incident told Dust2.us that it was then where VP Product Development at ESL, Michal "Carmac" Blicharz met with Sadokist in an effort to calm him down and restrain him. Despite best efforts, Sadokist did not calm down and ended up in a shouting match with the ESL executive before police arrived to the scene.
ESL immediately fired Sadokist from the broadcast and informed the remainder of the talent the following morning of his removal. Trivett was asked to immediately leave and ESL booked the first flight out of Rio for him. Anders Blume, on-site as a jack-of-all-trades on the analyst desk, will now fill in as a casting partner to Jason "moses" O'Toole.
When Dust2.us reached out to ESL for additional comment, they decline to provide any and referred back to their initial statement given to the outlet.
We can confirm that an incident took place last night involving Sadokist. As a result of this, Anders has stepped in to commentate for the remainder of the tournament. We have no further comments and would like the focus to remain on the competition.
IEM Rio continues to go on with the Legends Stage wrapping up todays and playoffs beginning on Thursday.
A previous version of this story stated that Sadokist's arrival to the hotel was after midnight. We have since clarified the timeline as happening earlier that evening. We regret the error.
