Pokémon World Championships Boots Competitor From Semifinals Over Seemingly Lewd Gesture, Sparking Controversy [IGN]

Pokémon World Championships competitor Ian Robb had seemingly defeated opponent Fernando Cifuentes in the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, advancing to the penultimate round of the Pokémon’s most prestigious competitive event. But when the next round began, Cifuentes was in Robb’s place, sparking confusion among observers and throwing the bracket into chaos.

As it turned out, Robb had been issued a loss over what The Pokémon Company International Global Esports and Events Director Chris Brown called an “unsporting conduct penalty” in a follow-up interview with IGN.

“It was an unsporting conduct penalty,” Brown said. “We applied it to the match that had just occurred and the standard penalty for that’s a match loss.”

— ゆうD (@ikuo_x) August 18, 2024

The unsporting conduct Brown was referring to was a motion that Robb performed after claiming victory that many took to be an offensive gesture. The result was that Robb was removed from the tournament, though he was allowed to keep his prize money for placing in the final eight. Quarterfinalists receive $15,000 while the winner receives $50,000.

The decision was criticized by some fans for altering the tournament, though others came forward to defend The Pokémon Company’s judgment.

“When I first heard about it I assumed Pokemon was being soft, but after seeing the clip I think they made the right call. He should know better. It can’t be emphasized enough how much Pokemon is geared towards children. I fully understand them wanting to discourage gestures like that,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

Robb, for his part, has been mostly silent, though he did post his support for Cifuentes on X/Twitter. “I’m cheering for him today. After meeting him and his dad I could tell how much making cut at worlds meant. He’s a deserving champion.”

Ultimately, Cifuentes won the tournament, defeating runner-up Seinosuke Shiokawa in the Masters division.

Asked for more detail on how the rules are enforced in such situations, Brown said it’s a “little tricky” in Pokémon due to the way the tournament is structured. “Generally the match is not considered to be over until you’ve actually signed your match slip…And so that’s sort of that key moment. There’s other kind of moments, and this is really fine detail and sort of the rules and policies, but in the [Swiss-system tournament] for example, when the information is actually put in the computer could be a factor, because then we have to pair the next round. Single elim is a little different. But ultimately we looked at it as that penalty basically was assessed for the match that was in progress.”

Pokémon World Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its overall winners while revealing info where the next tournament will take place. The Pokémon Company also shared the release date for Pokémon TCG Pocket and other info. You can find everything announced at the Pokémon World Championships right here.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.