Richard Lewis on the ATF and SoNNeikO Conflict

Esports tournament host Richard Lewis shared new details about the conflict between Ammar "ATF" Assaf and Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev during PGL Wallachia 2024 Season 2 for Dota 2. In a personal stream, he stated that unnamed individuals had been overly emotional in their attempts to persuade the tournament operator to impose stricter penalties on AVULUS.

Lewis did not clarify whether these individuals were affiliated with Team Falcons, but he mentioned that the club representatives were extremely dissatisfied with PGL's decisions. He added that the tournament operator faced a very difficult choice.

"PGL found itself in a very challenging position. The Falcons were furious. People, whom I won’t name, were shouting at PGL staff, demanding the disqualification of AVULUS and SoNNeikO.

The tournament operator is the one to impose penalties, and one of the parties involved in the conflict is unhappy. To make matters worse, this party is the Falcons, the primary contender for victory in the championship. If PGL had given in, it would have created a very unpleasant precedent. On the other hand, the situation wouldn't improve if Falcons withdrew from the tournament."

Earlier, ATF insulted SoNNeikO during matchmaking, prompting Butaev to confront the off-laner at PGL Wallachia 2024 Season 2, where he allegedly threatened to hit him. As a result, Butaev's team received a fine during the draft. On 9 October, SoNNeikO stated that he had reconciled with ATF.