Russian Counter-Strike 2 squad PARAVISION has had its Shanghai Major disqualification thrown out after it was revealed the banned coach was, in fact, unbanned. The coach successfully appealed the ban, but this information wasn’t passed between the Esports Integrity Commission, Valve, and Major organizers Perfect World, which has led to a reversal.

PARAVISION will suit up for the European RMR and attempt to qualify for the Shanghai Major after the team and coach Ivan “F_1N” Kochugov argued to Perfect World over the nature of the ban yesterday. Sources told HLTV that F_1N had actually appealed to have his ESIC ban and demerit points reduced earlier in 2024 and was successful, meaning he would be fine to participate in this year’s Shanghai Major.

The ESIC banner and logo.
ESIC is under fire for failing to publicly announce any player or coach appeals that have resulted in changed ban timelines. Image via ESIC

F_1N was spotted in a social media post from PARAVISION on Aug. 23 with organizers believing he had been involved in coaching the squad during their qualifier—an act banned under Valve’s CS2 Major rulebook for online events. Further investigation from Perfect World revealed he was already permanently banned by Valve due to his involvement with the coach bug exploit of 2020, leading to the decision to disqualify the team.

However, it appears the coach’s ban appeal wasn’t passed on to relevant parties correctly, leading to Perfect World issuing the DQ. HLTV’s report originally mentioned ESIC had failed to indicate the results of the appeal with other organizers or Valve, but the commission responded to Dust2.us reporter Jeffrey “Mnmzzz” Moore today to set the story straight.

In the response, ESIC said HLTV’s source had misrepresented the information and that, despite “timely clarification by ESIC, HLTV has misreported the facts and misled the CS2 community.” At the same time, ESIC did not publicly announce that F_1N’s ban had been adjusted, making him able to compete. “How would Perfect World be ‘aware of F_1N’s appeal to ESIC’s independent panel’ when you have not made anything about it public?” HLTV’s Danish “Nohte” Allana responded.

Anger at ESIC’s lack of announcement regarding the adjusted ban comes fresh off the heels of a scathing Dust2.us report marking three years on from the start of ESIC’s match-fixing investigation in North America—during which time, the commission has been notably quiet on the matter.

PARAVISION’s reinstatement to the RMR also means the cancelation of the remake qualifier between eliminated teams BLEED, Monte, and KOI, who have now had their Major dreams crushed twice in a week.

At the end of the day, communication is key, and it appears there’s been a severe lack of it at the highest organizational level for some time. It’s far from what CS2 needs right now, with clarity around such topics necessary ahead of the revamped, open esports circuit coming in 2025.