DKPhobos goes to Na’Vi, creates controversy

Natus Vincere transfers former ASUS.Polar offlaner, Olexandr “DKPhobos” Kucheria, in spite of Polar management’s opposition. DKPhobos will be replacing Na’Vi’s Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov.

According to Natus Vincere’s official statement, Olexandr “DKPhobos” Kucheria’s desire to join the team weighed heavily with the entire transfer process, however, all contract obligations have been fulfilled and an undisclosed, albeit substantial transfer fee has been paid to ASUS.Polar, subsidiary of Virtus.Pro.

The organization’s statement reads:

All the terms of the contract between the player and his former club were complied with. ASUS.Polar didn’t want to part with the member of their squad. However, the desire of the player, the fulfilled contract obligations and substantial sum of transfer paid by Na`Vi provide a possibility for our team to conduct today’s match (Na`Vi vs Alliance within the framework of D2CL S5) in full squad.

The ASUS.Polar management seems to have a different grasp on the matter. Virtus.Pro CEO, Anton “sneg1” Cherepennikov, claims he had a verbal agreement with DKPhobos and that he made it clear that a transfer to Na’Vi would be out of the question, prior to welcoming the Ukrainian player to the team. “I will repeat what I said to Phobos for the benefit of everyone else: ‘Whoever stands by what they have said is a winner; everyone else is only a dreamer’,” said Cherepennikov on his Virtus.Pro blog, adding that he holds no grudges.

Virtus.Pro’s CEO, Anton “sneg1” Cherepennikov:

If a player is able to pay sizable withdrawal fees and wants to leave, there is nothing we can do. Without any regulation by federations, the system will remain broken. Whether the system is good or bad, I don’t know. However, I do know that we need a system. (…) The window of time in which players hit their professional high points is short, while organizations with good ethics and discipline prevail for a very long time.

DKPhobos’ departure brings additional trouble to ASUS.Polar, as the team is now officially down to three players. Earlier, Andrew ‘Mag’ Chipenko has left the team, reasons still unknown.
Olexandr “DKPhobos” Kucheria, a battle-scarred DotA player, returned to the professional scene last year, as part of Virtus.Pro Polar. He had been previously tied with the Natus Vincere organization, where he used to be employed as a website programmer.