The first competitive season for Tekken 8 is rapidly approaching its grand conclusion with the Tekken World Tour Finals 2024 just over a month away, but there’s now been a shakeup in the big event’s bracket.
Bandai Namco announced today they’ve removed a player who qualified for the TWT finals and handed out a one-year ban for breaking the rules of the circuit.
The company released a statement revealing the regional champion for North & East Africa has been disqualified from the tour.
“We want to share an important update regarding the North & East Africa regional leaderboard. the player ranked first, is no longer recognized as the regional champion due to his failure to adhere to the rules and regulations of the Tekken World Tour 2024. As a result, the runner-up has now been declared the regional champion.
“In addition, the player will be banned from the Tekken World Tour 2025 and all other official Bandai Namco Esports competitions for one year. This decision reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of fair play and integrity within the community.
“Fair competition and respect are the cornerstones of the Tekken World Tour. We remain dedicated to ensuring that all players adhere to these principles.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
— Bandai Namco Esports (@BNEesports) October 28, 2024
The now disqualified player appears to be ILIAS, who previously released his own statement where he apologized and accepted the consequences.
While it seems ILIAS is originally from Morocco, he now resides in the Netherlands, yet still continued to compete in events for the African region.
The finals qualifying spot will now transfer to Deadakari, who finished second on the leaderboard.
Hello everyone, i wont be playing in the finals due to a stupid mistake i made. I played in the wrong region because of me not reading the rules properly. I apologize to bandai namco for wasting their time on the situation and to all of my supporters. I only feel shame. Im sorry.
— ILIAS (@ILIAS_Tk) October 13, 2024
When confronted, i tried to convince them i did live in morocco being scared of the consequences if i told the truth and acting out of panic. In hindsight this was a terrible decision. My post is me apologizing for the wrong i did to @BNEesports and to north african community 3/3
— ILIAS (@ILIAS_Tk) October 14, 2024
This isn’t the first time that Bamco has disqualified a player from the TWT when the 18-year-old player from China, Essence|XCC, was removed from Thaiger Uppercut 2024 after reaching top 8 because his country wasn’t included among the permitted regions.
After facing backlash, the company amended their rules to include China and invite XCC to compete in the last chance qualifier for the finals.
The Tekken World Tour Finals themselves are set to take place December 7–8 in Tokyo, Japan where the first world champion of Tekken 8 will be crowned.