Coach Rob ‘Robwiz’ Kennedy has missed the Valorant Game Changers Championship final, after being banned from participating over an “offensive gesture.”
A statement from Valorant Esports claims that on November 19, Kennedy – the coach of Shopify Rebellion GC – made an “offensive gesture” toward Cloud9 White’s players while on stage.
This breached rule 7.1.2 of the Global Competition Policy which states that coaches must “observe the highest standards of personal integrity and good sportsmanship at all times”.
The statement went on to state that any behaviour that “disrespects and insults” players is a violation of standards expected of coaches. Due to this “offensive gesture”
Kennedy was suspended from his next match, which was played yesterday (November 20) and also happened to be the tournament’s grand final. He has also been fined and “warned that any subsequent violations of this policy will result in increased penalties”.
Kennedy took to Twitter himself to express disappointment in missing the grand finals with his team, saying that he “worked so hard with them” to get there. He also apologised to fans of the team, saying “Sorry to anyone I have disappointed”.
Mel from the C9 team also commented to state, “For what it’s worth, this was not instigated by my team. Lexi and I were just talking to Robwiz about the clip earlier to tell him we thought it was funny and that there’s no bad blood between us,” before adding, “Heartbroken for them”.
A competitive ruling has been issued against Rob “Robwiz” Kennedy. #VCTGameChangers pic.twitter.com/XxWpsgTWOy
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) November 20, 2022
