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The 23-year-old IGL has been moved to the bench due to ‘high reputational risks’, the organization has announced today.
We’re ready to announce the changes in NAVI #CSGO roaster.
?: https://t.co/jAcRKPj3A9#navination pic.twitter.com/nozBXHXuo7
— NAVI (@natusvincere) May 28, 2022
It has been confirmed that Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov has been relieved of his duties as a member of the active roster. As NAVI said in a statement, “This decision is related to high reputational risks for the club, and it is not the result of his game”. CEO of the Ukrainian club said in one of the interviews this March, that NAVI will not work with players, who “live in Russia and who pay taxes to the Russian Federation”.
It is clear from NAVI’s decision that Boombl4 did not want to leave his home country. Especially given that his wife was ardently supporting the Russian army in public after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Former Boombl4 teammate, s1mple, said goodbye to him on Twitter.
This is how this world works, i want to thank you @Boombl4CS for everything you have done, without you, not a single player of our team has achieved all the achievements that we experienced together in joy and sorrow, good luck and maybe one day we will play together again
— Sasha (@s1mpleO) May 28, 2022
Boombl4 was originally brought on to replace the outgoing Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev in May of 2019 and has since achieved varying degrees of success with the organization, picking up a 1st at PGL Major Stockholm 2021, IEM Cologne 2021, Intel Grand Slam Season 3 and ESL Pro League Season 14. Recently Boombl4 with NAVI finished 2nd at PGL Antwerp Major 2022, where they lost against FaZe Clan 0:2 in the grand final.
The fate of other NAVI players from Russia, Perfecto, and electronic is unknown. The club said in a statement that the roster, which will play under NAVI tag at BLAST Premier Spring Finals in Lisbon, will be announced soon. The tournament will take place in the capital of Portugal between the 15 and 19 of June. Eight teams will fight for a slot for BLAST World Final and $200,000. Among the participants, besides NAVI, Team Vitality, OG, FaZe Clan, G2, BIG, ENCE and paiN Gaming.
NAVI CS:GO roster now:
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
- Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
- Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov (benched)
A possible temporary replacement for Boombl4 would be a 17-year-old headtr1ck that replaced the player when he had a positive COVID-19 test as part of IEM Katowice 2022 and EPL S15. But the young star of NAVI Junior is playing now for academy team within WePlay Academy League Season 4.