With the growth of esports in South Asian countries, Bangladesh witnessed its most prominent esports tournament with the conclusion of Discovery One Bangladesh Season 2 with a prize pool of 40,00,000 Bangladeshi Taka (approx. Rs. 30,15,060). The event consisted of three esports titles, including Valorant.
The five men playing under the name MLT Esports were the winners, but the players switched their organization and joined Exceeli Esports just before the Grand Finals. Exceeli Esports tried to claim the trophy during the prize distribution. However, the award was given to MLT Esports, which led to one of the biggest controversies in Bangladesh's esports history.
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All You Need to Know About The Controversy Between MLT Esports and Exceeli Esports
On September 2, 2023, D1 hosted the Valorant Grand Finals between MLT Esports and Insurgent Tennos. After the best-of-three matchup, MLT Esports were the winners of the tournament. According to Roza, who was on the winning roster, the team was not under MLT Esports. The organization had yet to pay their salaries for July and August, and the team had to pay for D1 Registration fees on their own. The players played under MLT Esports' banner because the team could not change their in-game name mid-tournament according to the rules.
Here is what Roza, the player from the winning team, had to say regarding the incident (via Omen):
This trophy doesn’t belong to Exceeli or MLT this trophy belongs to us the players who played despite our morale being down because of the many issues we were facing.
During the prize distribution ceremony, the owners of MLT Esports were seen taking the trophy away from the players, which led to a ruckus. Ultimately, the award and the cheque were given to MLT Esports. In response, the players and Exceeli Esports' staff took the trophy to Exceeli's Owner, Arif's car. The viral video shows that the management drove away from the venue while the MLT Esports owner tried to stop the vehicle.