Kuku takes leave from TNC following racism scandal

Following a racism controversy and an ensuing penalty imposed by Valve, Carlo “Kuku” Palad has decided to take a personal leave from TNC Predator.

TNC Predator posted on their Facebook page about Kuku’s decision to take leave. TNC also clarified that Kuku will remain a part of their Dota 2 roster.

Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa will substitute for Kuku for the meantime. TNC did not indicate the specific date of Kuku’s return to the competitive scene but the organization did ensure fans that the substitution was temporary.

RyOyr previously played for TNC Predator as a support from 2016 to 2017. With ryOyr, TNC  won the World Electronic Sports Games 2016 and bagged $800,000 for their trouble. They also placed third in the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3.

While TNC Predator did have a few significant wins with ryOyr, the squad struggled to qualify to the world’s biggest Dota 2 events.  He later moved to Mineski in 2017, and that team failed to qualify in The International 2017.

Recently, Ryoyr has acted as the support player for Team Admiral’s newly formed squad. He had left the team and was a free agent before TNC Predator took him on as a substitute for Kuku.

Prior to the announcement of Kuku’s personal leave, TNC Predator also posted that they will be changing the team’s manager. TNC offered a public apology for the organization’s role in the racism controversy and relieved Jim Paulo Sy of his managerial duties.

Sy had tried to cover up Kuku’s racist comments, which which was treated as an arguably greater offense when his efforts were revealed.

TNC Predator will be playing with Ryoyr as a stand-in for the Chongqing Major in China and for the upcoming World Electronic Sports Games qualifiers in Malaysia.