The results of one of the matches of the closed qualifying stage of IEM Fall Asia were canceled because one of the teams violated the rules of participation. Mongolian Checkmate defeated NKT in the first round of three, but it later turned out that unauthorized personnel were present in the room where the players were located at the time. This violates Valve's rules for RMR tournaments, according to which no one other than the cyber athletes themselves should be there during the match.
As a result, Checkmate was allowed to continue to participate in the tournament, but it was relegated to the lower bracket of the tournament, where it will face China's Invictus on Saturday. NKT, in turn, will take the Mongolian team's place in the finals of the upper grid, where it will battle for a spot in the main stage of the tournament with China's Wings Up.
The rule that no unauthorized people should be in the room where the players are and on the server during an online match was introduced by Valve earlier this year. Any communication with the team is also prohibited. Such a requirement was largely the result of an investigation into the use «of the» coaching bug in late 2020. At the time, more than three dozen coaches were banned for varying lengths of time for this offense.