Movistar Riders Receive Point Deduction for Unauthorized Communication in VALORANT Tournament
Movistar Riders’ VALORANT team will have three points deducted in the upcoming VLR Spain Rising event due to the head coach’s use of “unauthorized communication” during a match against RIX.GG in the EMEA VCT Open Qualifier on Jan. 17, according to VCT’s announcement on social media.
After the match, tournament officials received evidence that Movistar Riders’ coach Lucas “LRojo” Rojo provided his players with written tactical instructions while the match was ongoing. This action violates section 7.2.11 of the VALORANT Global Competition Policy, which prohibits communication between players and non-players outside of Tactical and Technical pauses. Movistar Riders accepted the sanction from Riot and apologized to the community.
This incident marks the second occurrence of unauthorized communication in VCT matches in recent weeks. T1 also faced consequences for their coach David Denis providing instructions to players during a match against TSM in the NA VCT Open Qualifier on Jan. 29. As a result, T1 forfeited their victory and were eliminated from the tournament. David has been suspended by T1 for the upcoming NA VCT Open Qualifier this weekend.
As a consequence of their loss against RIX.GG in the EMEA VCT Open Qualifier, Movistar Riders has been penalized by Riot ahead of the VRL Spain Rising event. They will receive a three-point deduction, which is equivalent to a one-match loss.
The VRL Spain Rising tournament will feature a total of 10 teams and will be played from Feb. 15 to March.
Movistar Riders, VALORANT, VLR Spain Rising, unauthorized communication, point deduction, VCT, EMEA, match, coach, penalty