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Complete Timeline of the ATF-SoNNeikO Dispute
Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev and Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf recently had an altercation during PGL Wallachia Season 2. The two players exchanged words in the hotel lobby which nearly escalated into a physical altercation.
In this article we'll go through the events that lead to this scene, what happened between the players, and how the Dota 2 community has responded.
The spat between ATF and SoNNeikO began from a pub match
Both players agreed that the cause of this problem was from a pub match. ATF and SoNNeikO were on opposing teams and ATF called Akbar "braindead" after the game was over.
After being insulted, SoNNeikO went to Twitter to respond to ATF. Akbar wrote that he will "teach you [ATF] how to become human" the next time they meet at a LAN. Some other words were exchanged and while they don't explicitly state physical violence, the overall tone is hardly friendly.
While the next part of the story is confusing and contradictory, there is no doubt about what happened thus far. ATF insulted SoNNeikO and he responded in private messages later on. Pretty cut and dry here.
The two players meet and tensions escalate
With both teams attending PGL Wallachia Season 2, it was inevitable they would run into each other and that happened at the hotel lobby the players were housed at.
The story at this point diverges quite a bit and we will take a look at both sides of the story before proceeding.
ATF: "SoNNeikO started threatening to punch me and put me in ground"
ATF stated that SoNNeikO approached him, put his hands around his shoulder and started issuing threats. The press release by Team Falcons adds more details.
According to Falcons, SoNNeikO asked ATF to step outside the hotel to physically confront him and this led to the manager of Avulus to get involved and tell Akbar to stop. The situation continued until multiple people physically separated Ammar and SoNNeikO.
Based on ATF and Falcons' media, SoNNeikO approached with ill-intentions and had to be forced away. They also stated that the whole incident was witnessed by PGL staff.
SoNNeikO: "I approached him with a smile and a friendly vibe"
Akbar recalls the event differently. He shared that the whole thing was a misunderstanding that got out of control.
ATF and SoNNeikO are both Muslims and in the spirit of a shared faith, SoNNeikO attempted to mend the relationship. Akbar approached Falcon's offlaner and asked him why they were even fighting to begin with.
The shock came when ATF replied, "“Yeah, I remember. You’re braindead.” After that reply, Akbar stated that the rest of Team Falcons jumped in and added fuel to the fire, with the main instigator being Oliver "skiter" Lepko.
The two stories reconcile at this point, with the teams getting involved and separating the players from each other.
PGL issues a draft penalty to Avulus
The tournament organizer hasn't released a statement on exactly what happened between the two players. However, they did share their feelings regarding the situation, "We condemn this type of behavior, as it goes against the values of sportsmanship and respect that we uphold in our tournaments."
PGL handing out a 110 second draft penalty to Avulus indicates they believe the fault lies on SoNNeikO. Time will tell if there is more from PGL once the tournament concludes.
Team Falcons stated they aren't happy with the penalty and requested SoNNeikO leave the tournament entirely. If that doesn't happen, Falcons said they are discussing whether or not they will continue with PGL Wallachia Season 2.
Kuroky saves the day
The latest update to the story features an unexpected player. Nigma Galaxy's Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi was able to mediate the two players and resolve their dispute.
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