Gabriel “NTX” Garcia, who played for Influence Rage in the ongoing PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL) Brazil, has been handed a one-year ban for making a racist comment. This makes him the second player from the region to get suspended for the same reason after Lucas “Goodzin” Martins earlier this month.
The incident happened during a livestream last week. NTX was playing with some of his teammates and used a racist remark, according to PUBG Mobile esports’ statement. Dot Esports wasn’t able to verify the words he used or the livestream.
His language was spotted by PUBG Mobile esports’ officials, however. The player has now been suspended for a year from all competitions.
“Both the tournament organizer and Tencent Games reiterate that the PMPL Brazil and the PUBG Mobile ecosystem has no tolerance for the discriminatory and toxic vocabulary used recently,” PUBG Mobile esports said in a statement. “We will continue to investigate and punish these actions.”
NTX reacted to the suspension in an Instagram story. The player said that the racist phrase was used to “a colleague who I’ve been playing with for a long time” (translated from Portuguese). He said that he would like to apologize to anyone who was offended and that he would be taking the necessary measures to correct this offense.
Influence Rage also announced in an Instagram story that it was parting ways with the player. The organization added that it would be available to the player for “re-education, social awareness, and psychological assistance” (translated from Portuguese).
The PMPL Brazil season one will wrap up with its league stage this weekend. After two Super Weekends, Influence Rage is currently sitting in 10th place in the overall standings. INTZ Esports are in first place.
