In what was an enormous upset when rookie Rocket League team Jamal Jabary qualified over professional teams for the Rocket League Spring Series (RLSS), it has now come to light that one of their players, Logan “Lj.” Wilt, did not meet the age requirements when the team qualified for the tournament. The rookies made their way through established veterans of the scene such as Cloud9 and Rogue and ultimately qualified for this weekend’s North American Spring Series.
However, it does seem like it was an honest mistake on Jamal Jabary’s side, and the team has since apologized for the ordeal.
3/3 We apologize for disregarding the rules and not reading them thoroughly. We understand the harsh impact we made towards the tournament organizers and teams we played. Once again we apologize and regret our decision to play while Lj was underage.
— Toastie (@Toastie_RL) April 24, 2020
Rogue takes Jamal Jabary’s place in the NA RLSS
With the announcement of Jamal Jabary’s disqualification came the news that Rogue would play a tiebreaker against eUnited to determine who would take the rookies’ place in the RLSS. Both teams had lost out on qualifying in the losers final against Pittsburgh Knights and Charlotte Phoenix respectively.
Oddly, while Rogue had been perfectly swept by Pittsburgh Knights — scoring zero goals — they seemed to have no problem with eUnited in the tiebreaker. And despite eUnited’s survival for RLCS Season 10 and a roster change, the team continues to be in free fall. A simple 3-0 sweep saw Rogue qualify for the Spring Series, which starts today and finishes tomorrow.
Jamal Jabary apologizes and explains
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, Jamal Jabary have told their side of the story, and it seems like there was no malicious intent. Having qualified with an underage player, they explain they were under the impression they were allowed to play since their underaged player, Lj., turned the minimum age of 15 two days later and therefore before the RLSS began. All of Rocket League‘s official tournaments have a minimum age requirement of 15, including the qualifiers for said tournaments.
The timing of the qualifiers was unfortunate for Jamal Jabary, who showed that even new and upcoming teams can bring it to former world champions like Cloud9. We’ll have to watch the RLSS without them, but it still looks to be a fully stacked tournament with eight of the best teams in North America. The RLSS broadcast began at 11:30 a.m. EDT / 17:30 CEST over on Twitch.
