“I don’t care about Riot” — yetujey refuses to attend FUT-100T post-match press conference after major tech issues

A defeat and a series of mistakes that are likely to spark plenty of discussion. On Wednesday, FUT Esports and 100 Thieves faced off at the top of Group A after both teams had won their opening match. The winner of the series would therefore secure a place in the VALORANT Champions playoffs. With an opportunity to reach this stage of the tournament for the first time since 2023, the Turkish side were nevertheless convincingly defeated 2-0 by 100 Thieves.

The match, however, took some time to get underway after several technical pauses at the beginning of the series, one of which had a clear impact on a round. Following a pistol-round victory for FUT, 100 Thieves opted for a force buy and managed to plant the spike in the second round. However, as the Turkish side prepared to retake the site, Doğan "xeus" Gözgen lost a crucial duel after his Spectre failed to fire. 100 Thieves won the round, sending FUT Esports into an eco.

With their momentum disrupted and their grip on the game gradually slipping following further technical pauses, FUT Esports would go on to lose the map before falling on Lotus shortly afterwards. During the press conference following the match, the team's Sentinel, Eray "yetujey" Budak, openly expressed some of his frustration. When xeus was initially asked about the issue that had occurred, the longest-standing member of the roster stepped in and spoke first. "First of all, I don't want to be disrespectful to you guys [press media], but I don't care about Riot so I will not join this," he explained, before stepping away from the rest of the press conference, putting his headset on and looking at his phone.

His reaction was echoed by his teammates in the minutes that followed on X. xeus himself also addressed the incident, writing, "I hope we learn how to organize a tournament, especially one this big," before adding, "If you're going to punish me for telling you about the problem on your computer, go ahead." The team's Initiator, Okan "KROSTALY" Alaçam, also gave his account of what had happened, explaining that the problems extended beyond the second-round incident. He also mentioned issues with audio, mice, PCs freezing and brightness, concluding with the ironic remark, "Biggest tournament of VALORANT xD."

These issues are not the first to arise during the competition. Several players, including Kim "Francis" Mu-bin and Nikita "trexx" Cherednichenko, have already complained about mouse-related problems since the beginning of the tournament. This is, however, the first time that a team and its players have reacted so strongly to the issues encountered. Riot Games’s rulebook, which stipulates certain obligations and requires maintaining a certain behavior, implies that players, particularly yetujey, could well be sanctioned after their statements.