Movistar Riders to receive a 3-point deduction in VRL Spain Rising due to ‘unauthorized communication’

Movistar Riders’ VALORANT team will start the upcoming VLR Spain Rising with three fewer points as a result of the usage of “unauthorized communication” by their head coach in a match against RIX.GG in the EMEA VCT Open Qualifier on Jan. 17, VCT revealed today on social media.

After the match in question ended, tournament officials received a piece of evidence that showed that Movistar Riders’ coach Lucas “LRojo” Rojo provided his players with written tactical instructions while the match was ongoing. This breaks section 7.2.11 of the VALORANT Global Competition Policy, which states all communication between players and non-players are prohibited outside of Tactical and Technical pauses. The Spanish organization agreed to the sanction from Riot and apologized to the community.

This is the second case of unauthorized communication in VCT matches in the past weeks. T1 had to forfeit their victory against TSM in the NA VCT Open Qualifier on Jan. 29, which consequently eliminated them from the tournament. Coach David Denis provided instructions to players while the match was in action. T1 has since then suspended David for the upcoming NA VCT Open Qualifier that will take place this weekend.

Since Movistar Riders lost the match against RIX.GG in the EMEA VCT Open Qualifier, Riot has punished them ahead of the upcoming VRL Spain Rising. They’ll take a three-point deduction in the competition, which is equivalent to a one-match loss.

VRL Spain Rising will feature a total of 10 teams and be played from Feb. 15 to March.