Overwatch Contenders admin fired for racist statements following pause scandal

An Overwatch Contenders tournament administrator has been removed from their position following the discovery of past conversations that involved a racial slur, the organization announced today. The administrator was also at the center of a community uproar over a seemingly unfair pause situation during a recent Contenders match. 

The Overwatch Contenders organization put out a statement earlier today, updating fans that it let go of a tournament administrator. But it did not elaborate, only saying that “there is no place for racism within Overwatch Contenders.”

The administrator, known as Xou, was a part of Monkey Bubble, which operates Overwatch Contenders tournaments in North America and Europe.  

During a July 14 match between North American Contenders teams Noble and Ardour, one of Noble’s DPS players disconnected during a tense map five scenario. After waiting the allotted 10 minutes for his return, Ardour offered their team’s 10 minutes to give him more time to reconnect. An administrator with the tag “EUProd10” insisted the game go on. Noble were forced to play with five players and ended up losing the match. 

Former Overwatch League tank Rick “GiG” Salazar, now a part of Noble, said the situation was “such a tragedy.” He noted the ruleset allowed for 10 minutes of time per team but Ardour’s time was “ignored.” The Contenders community was in an uproar over the situation and many fans on social media called for the administrator to be fired. 

On July 18, a Twitter user affiliated with Noble posted screengrabs of a 2016 conversation between Xou and Rod “Slasher” Breslau in which Xou used a racial expletive and argued it was equivalent to the word “Nazi.” The original poster captioned the screengrabs as “EUProd10 moment,” tying Xou to the Noble and Ardour scandal. 

After the Overwatch Contenders organization announced the removal of a tournament administrator, Xou posted a statement on Twitter. In the post, Xou confirmed that they were the administrator EUProd10 and also apologized for the “unacceptable discussion” that was uncovered. They also apologized for the pause situation.

“I should have showed more flexibility and better communication with the tournament production regarding the options to consider,” Xou said. 

Xou said they’ll be stepping away from the community. Overwatch Contenders matches will continue as planned through the week of July 19.