The FIFAe World Cup concluded last week with what was one of the most controversial endings in recent esports history. The console finals, which took place on Wednesday, July 19th, saw Mark Zhakary (Mark11) take on Manuel Bachoore (ManuBachoore). The entertaining match went on to extra time and eventually PKs, where things got murky.

Bachoore won the PKs 5-4 but unfortunately is going to struggle celebrating his win. This is because during PKs fans pointed out that Bachoore was able to see the console feed of Mark11 during the Penalty Kick shootout. This gave the Dutch professional esports player a possible advantage that saw him block Zhakary's first two shots.

Mark11 raised his hand multiple times to point out the glaring issue, but was strangely ignored. The PKs continued and Mark11 missed out on an opportunity to win $300,000.

FIFAe Responds To Fan Backlash

Fans were outraged at the results of the Final, demanding a rematch of the PKs. However, the results are set in stone, and it seems nothing can be done now. FIFAe released a statement regarding the outcome:

The tweet reads:

“Following the FIFAe World Cup final earlier this evening, FIFAe would like to provide the following clarification and factors that have been considered:

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. The same situation occurred during the semi-finals including a penalty shootout and no further concerns have been raised by the players prior to the start of the final.

After thorough review of the footage, we can also confirm that no player received a competitive advantage as the opposite team only watched their own screen. According to the competition rules, games can only be paused if technical issues occur, which did not take place during the penalty shootout. The final decision has been taken based on review of competition footage, in line with the player terms and conditions, and following detailed briefings about controller and broadcast settings to all players during practice matches.”

Short answer: They've investigated themselves and found no wrongdoing. How convenient.

While obviously upset, Mark11 seems to let bygones be bygones at this point:

Those who viewed the stream, though, aren't quite ready to let this one go.

Mark11 Voted Player Of The Finals By Fans

In an effort to support Zhakary, fans voted Mark11 the player of the finals. They also likely voted in spite of FIFAe and EA.

Mark still gets to take home $150,000 dollars in winnings for being the runner-up. While everyone aims for first place, it's still a nice chunk of change regardless of the outcome. So it's understandable why he isn't that upset. Still in his late teens, Zhakary's still got a bright esports future ahead of him that'll likely see him net even more money. We'll see how he performs in the all-new EA Sports FC 24.

People also don't seem to be upset with Bachoore, who can't be faulted with the way the tournament was organized. Bachoore played fantastically throughout the tournament, and there's no doubt he still would have won even without seeing Mark11 console's feed. In the heat of the match, it's hard to even prove if Bachoore could even look at the console feed on the big screen and make adjustments so quickly.

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