MLG finalists disqualified

MLG has released a press statement explaining that the two finalists of the Summer Championship {League of Legends} Event have been disqualified from the tournament, with their placements and prizes now no longer being awarded.

In the {League of Legends} final the two teams, Curse NA and Team Dignitas, secretly agreed before hand to play the first of their five games in an unorthodox way (they opted for ARAM - which means every player picks a random hero from the roster, and all players fight down the central lane of the map - a very unusual way to start off a championship final).

MLG has since cited the following rule: "competitors may not intentionally Forfeit a Game or conspire to manipulate Rankings or Brackets." And whilst it's clear that neither team intentionally threw the match, it certainly wasn't played in the spirit of the tournament, with professionalism left at the door (you can read the full statement here).

So, both teams had their prize money withheld, a decision supported by both MLG and Riot (who're also withholding Circuit points due to "unsportsmanlike conduct"). Curse NA released this apology, where they admit: "We feel that we kind of disrespected eSports and the professionalism that it should have," they said, before adding "we just really want to say that we're sorry. And expect better of us in the future."