A leaked clip surfaced on Twitter yesterday of a scrim during which two London Spitfire players made inappropriate comments during gameplay. And today, the London Spitfire has issued a statement on the matter.
The four-second video included unannounced player Robert “Skairipa” Lupsa and 2022 Dennis Hawelka award winner for his “positivity and presence” Hadi Bleinagel. Although the video was short, the content in it was disturbing for many of those who watched it.
In the video, Skairipa says “I’m raping,” to which Hadi responds “[inaudible] the rapist.” Some people who watched it claimed it was a joke between two players that was never meant to be heard by the public, and others felt it left a bitter taste in their mouths because of the inappropriate language in the short video.
The Spitfire released a statement on the clip today. The team apologized to the community and said it will be requiring sensitivity training for players who were involved in the clip, which will be administered by a professional. Most people are assuming that the above clip is what the Spitfire is referring to, but it is not specifically cited by the statement.
The statement also seems to confirm the onboarding of Skairipa, who at the time of writing still hasn’t been officially announced on the team yet. Rumors of their addition were made public after some scrim codes leaked on Hadi’s stream a few days ago, where the two unannounced players were seen scrimming with him.
Dot Esports has reached out to the Spitfire for comment but has not received a response at time of writing.
