NAVI COO, Oleksii ‘xaoc’ Kucherov, went on a Twitch live stream today to talk about what is happening inside the organization. Crucially, it means NAVI ElectroNic and Perfecto would remain.
2022 has been a tough year for Ukrainian organization NAVI, and there has been too much speculation about the future of the roster. Most of this was centered around the three Russian players Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov, Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy and Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhaylov.
NAVI ElectroNic and Perfecto remain
Eventually, Boombl4, who is the IGL for the team, was removed from the roster. The reasoning for this decision was “high reputational risks for the club” according to NAVI’s announcement. The organization and its CEO Yevhen Zolotarov said, “We are not going to work with people who live in Russia and who pay taxes to the Russian Federation,” and that he hopes “that the Russia-based players are going to relocate.”
The consensus in the community was that the players wouldn’t be willing to accommodate and leave their homes, and tough times were ahead of the team. However, today the COO of the team Oleksii Kucherov was a guest on a Twitch stream to discuss the team dynamics and what is happening.
According to Kucherov, Boombl4’s removal will be the only change in the team in terms of the existing players. ElectroNic and Perfecto are open to relocation and it will happen real soon.
To replace Boombl4, Kucherov said they are considering Virtus.pro players Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Galinskis and Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov. Both YEKINDAR and buster were benched after the Major, and VP already has their replacements. Virtus.pro announced today that David ‘n0rb3r7’ Danielyan and Petr ‘fame’ Bolyshev, both from K23, will be joining the team.
However, both YEKINDAR and buster still are contracted by VP and have buyouts that the Russian organization insists on being paid. NAVI on the other hand said they aren’t considering buying out these players, and will only consider them if they are released from their previous team.
If NAVI can get one of the aforementioned players, there is still the question of who will be the new IGL. According to Dexterto’s Luís Mira, the strongest candidate for the position is electroNic.
Exclusive: @electronicCSGO has emerged as a strong candidate to take over as NAVI’s new IGL following @Boombl4CS‘s removal.
NAVI are considering @bustercsgo for the vacant position, but only if he is released from his @virtuspro contract.
— Luís Mira (@luismmira) May 31, 2022