XSET Rainbow Six Siege head coach Matheus "Budega" Figueiredo has been suspended from competitive action for 12 months after engaging in "major misconduct directed at members of Team Liquid" during a match at Six Charlotte Major 2022, Ubisoft announced Friday.
In addition to the one-year ban of its head coach, XSET was issued a competitive fine of $5,000.
According to Ubisoft's competitive ruling statement, Budega breached the Rainbow Six Circuit Global Rulebook on multiple occasions during the matches between XSET and Team Liquid.
Effective until May 18, 2023, Budega's suspension falls in line with the rulebook's Annex B Penalty Index's minimum punishment. The maximum punishment includes a lifetime ban and higher fines.
According to the Rainbow Six Circuit rulebook, "major misconduct" encompasses all of the following prohibited behaviors:
- Any actions or statement which may be found offensive and related to gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability or mental illness, ethnicity, nationality, skin color, religion
- Impersonation of any team players, managers, admins or Ubisoft employee
- Theft-related crimes such as burglary, robbery or larceny
- Deliberate intimidation, actual or threatened physical violence against another person
- Stalking, harassment, inappropriate physical contact, unsolicited sexual attention
- A criminally prosecuted activity enforced by the local police authorities
Although Ubisoft didn't go into more detail about what exactly Budega did on stage, Team Liquid manager André "Sensi" Kaneyasu Tweeted that he targeted homophobic slurs at one of their players among "much more." (Footage of the event in question can be found here, though exactly what Budega said is hard to make out.)
Initially, Budega Quote Tweeted Ubisoft's ruling minutes after it was posted, mentioning, "Not even a single message or a chance to defend myself btw. Just woke up and saw this. My whole family is travelling rn to see me on a stage. Thank You Liquid, your childish actions has done u fine! Hope u can win now!"
Later on in the day, Budgea put out an apology statement on the matter.
"When I woke up to the news today I was surprised by the ruling and responded online out of frustration," Budgea's statement reads. "I have now had a moment to really think through and understand what happened. During the course of our match with Team Liquid, I said something awful. I used slang that, for me, has a different meaning, but I know how words can hurt. To the members of Team Liquid, XSET, Ubisoft, the Rainbow 6 community and all our fans, I am deeply sorry."
XSET soon posted its own statement on the matter as well, adding that during his time away from the competitive space, Budega will reflect on his actions while also working with the North American organization's internal recourses.
XSET went on to play the rest of the event without a coach on stage, finishing 5th-8th after falling to Astralis in the quarterfinals of the Playoffs stage.
