Famous esports player "s1mple" disqualified for a year for collaborating with Russians

The Federation of Esports of Ukraine disqualified Oleksandr Kostyliev, known as "s1mple", for cooperation with Russians, reports UNN.

Details

According to the Federation, Kostyliev was added to the "Ban List" on June 19. The reason for the ban is stated as — "participation in official matches on the same team as Russians."

Kostyliev, who in 2023 announced a pause in his career and departure from the NaVi team, and in 2025 joined the European team BC Game Esports, this year at the CS Asia Championships 2026 tournament played a match against the team paIN. The athlete's ban is in effect until June 2027.

Along with "s1mple", the Russian esports athlete Denis Sharipov, better known as "electroNic", plays for BC Game Esports.

It is worth noting that in January of this year, "s1mple" was criticized for shaking hands with "electroNic". This happened after a victory over opponents as part of an esports tournament in Krakow, Poland. After this episode was noticed by the Ukrainian esports community, criticism fell on Kostyliev.

In 2022, as part of the NaVi and United24 partnership, Kostyliev donated 100 thousand dollars. The funds went towards the purchase of an ambulance, and fundraising was also planned as part of a charity tournament.

The Federation stated that the ban applies to:

• tournaments organized by the Federation of Esports of Ukraine;

• tournaments partnered with the Federation of Esports of Ukraine;

• tournaments held with the support of the Federation of Esports of Ukraine;

• tournaments held by members of the Federation of Esports of Ukraine.

For all other Ukrainian tournaments, this list is exclusively advisory in nature and may or may not be taken into account by organizers. Additionally, if representatives of the Ukrainian national team are included in the list of players prohibited from participating in Ukrainian tournaments, such players are automatically excluded from the Ukrainian national team and cannot represent Ukraine at international competitions.

What is known about "s1mple"

Oleksandr Kostyliev is a professional Ukrainian esports athlete in the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

The best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player of 2018, 2021, and 2022 according to the HLTV portal, considered one of the best AWP players in the history of Counter-Strike. In 2021, as part of the Natus Vincere team, he became the winner and MVP of PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

In July 2022, Kostyliev appeared on the stream of Russian singer Morgenstern. In 2024, the esports athlete was spotted at a Morgenstern concert. The Ukrainian himself also went on stage and performed rap.

At that time, Kostyliev wrote in his Telegram channel: "It's cool to be friends with a foreign agent. No one can bother you, Alisher is top."

Reminder

Midfielder of the Ukrainian national team and Amsterdam's "Ajax" Oleksandr Zinchenko announced his departure from the esports team Passion UA, which he founded in 2023. At the same time, the team stated that the collective does not cease to exist and continues its path.