Bandai Namco has banned two players from the Tekken 7 UK Championships following accusations that they colluded to throw a match.
Kotaku reports that it has been alleged that Justin ‘King Jae’ Nelson conspired with Charmel ‘C-Krizzle’ Miedji Koloko in their third round match in last weekend’s Birmingham qualifier.
The pair are both members of the Distinct G league, and C-Krizzle had already qualified for the UK Championships following his performance in a previous event. The accusation is that King Jae was allowed to win so he too could grab a UK Championship spot.
The odd behaviour during the match was even noted by the commentators at the time, while the Twitch chat quickly filled with wild accusations. Certainly it seems as if Bandai Namco had seen enough to be convinced that something was amiss.
Unfortunately, during the event two players have been suspected of collusion in order to manipulate the results of the tournament,” a statement from the publisher confirmed.
Bandai Namco Entertainment does not condone such anti-competitive behaviour therefore we have come to the decision to revoke the qualification spots for District G and C-Krizzle. They will also not be allowed to take part in the London Qualifier taking place on Sunday 14th May.
In light of this, the qualification spots will go to the next highest placing players at the Manchester qualifier and the Birmingham qualifier, the events the prior mentioned qualified from.”
King Jae has denied the accusations and claims that Bandai Namco did not discuss the matter with him.
Here’s a video of the fight in question: