Eight teams disqualified at PUBG Mobile National Championship MEA Wildcard

Cheating in an online or competitive game is nothing new for any gamer, but cheating during a tournament takes the low to another level and harms the integrity of the entire tournament. Not only that, it also affects the standing of the organizers. This is exactly what happened during the PUBG Mobile National Championship (PMNC) MEA Wildcard 2024.

One or two teams cheating is already considered bad, but what happens when half of the grand finalists are engaging in the activity Eight out of 16 teams competing in the event were disqualified after they were found cheating.

The tournament featured a prize pool of $15,000 and the top three teams were getting a guaranteed invite to the PUBG Mobile Super League Fall Qualifiers. All the teams involved in the cheating have also had their prize money held.

Here are all the disqualified teams -

Crash Gaming Esports

83 Esport

FES Masters

Gen Nine Team

Team BIG

UDR Killer

Barcode

Storm Esports

Ban came one after another, 2 before, 2 during, and 4 after match

Storm Esports, UDR Killer, Team BIG, and Barcode were handed disqualification during the grand finals. UDR Killer, Team BIG and Storm Esports were not let into the day three matches, while Barcode was handed a ban mid-match.

Further investigation after the tournament concluded revealed that four more teams  FES Masters, 83 Esport, Crash Gaming Esports, and Gen Nine Team were also cheating and were swiftly dismissed from the tournament.

All of these teams had an excellent standing against many others due to cheating. FES and Crash were already among the top teams. Usually, the teams and players receive either a permanent or a multi-year ban from official tournaments. All of these teams also received a ban, however, the severity is unknown.

Following the bans, the remaining teams were moved up as per their standings and were awarded the prize money. Sadly, the cheats were detected too late for the tournament grand finals redo. It is quite unfortunate that other teams with better potential have had to miss out on a direct invite to the PMSL fall qualifiers.