The drama surrounding FIFAe intensified during the finals between Manuel Bachoore and Mark Zhakary. While Bachoore won, his victory wasn't celebrated by many who believe that the admin didn't listen to Mark, who claimed that all his penalties were being blocked as if they were being predicted.
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Mark Zhakary Unhappy with Admins During the FIFAe World Cup 2023 Ignoring his Plea for Help
During the penalty round, Mark raised his hand to ask the admin for help, claiming that all of his penalties were being blocked as if they were being predicted precisely. The referee didn't seem to acknowledge him, and he had to continue the shootout. However, the fans were quick to notice that Manuel was getting Mark's console feed, which led to him getting a competitive upper hand.
After FIFAe announced Manuel as the winner, fans took to Twitter and slammed the organisers for not checking in on Mark's concerns, and saying that the game was rigged.
After that backlash, FIFAe issued a statement saying they have looked into the matter and detected no foul play and that players were informed beforehand that their input overlay might get shown in the arena feed.
"All players have been informed at the start of the FIFAe World Cup 2023 that if they actively decide themselves to show the input overlay, it might be displayed on broadcast and in the arena. Throughout the entire competition, the feed of the home console was visible on the stream and within the arena. This also included games with the input overlay."
They also said that according to the game's rules, a game is only stopped if there are technical difficulties during the round. In this case, no technical problems were observed. This one oversight by the admin and the referee potentially cost Mark the match, and a chance to take home $300K, and he just walked away with $150K.