Team Liquid to Wear Pride Jerseys Again at Esports World Cup

World renowned esports organization Team Liquid announced today that their players will be wearing pride-themed jerseys anew at the Esports World Cup (EWC) this year, via a post on the team’s official website. The press release was also put out by Team Liquid founder and co-owner Victor “Nazgul” Goossens on his X account.

In the announcement, Team Liquid reiterated that they “will be a partner team of the Esports World Cup Foundation” (EWCF) and take part in the Club Championship. Their core mission is to become a “multi-generational leader” in the esports industry, which partnering with the EWCF is a part of. However, they are also reaffirming their commitment to “encouraging further change in the region”, which presumably means the Middle East and surrounding areas.

Team Liquid will be competing in EWC this year as a partner team, and our goal is to win the club championship. This is an important decision, so I would like to give an update on our stance towards the event, and our experience with EWC so far.https://t.co/wWAlhnAGJO

— Victor Goossens (@LiquidNazgul) May 12, 2025

“We recognize meaningful improvements, including the recent release of political prisoners and broader efforts to implement reforms and reduce isolation on the world stage,” said Team Liquid on the state of social justice and political affairs. “These are important steps forward. At the same time, we hope to see continued progress, including the release of more political prisoners, especially those who have campaigned for equal rights and labor protections, as well as the removal of travel restrictions on those released prisoners and activists.”

The “Sin” of Pride

To this end, Team Liquid will be wearing their pride jerseys through Pride Month, which takes place in June. The Esports World Cup itself takes place in July, but Liquid will also be wearing their pride jerseys at the event and all throughout the rest of that month.

The EWCF is a non-profit organization based in Saudi Arabia, which has historically been one of the least progressive countries in the world in terms of LGBTQ rights. The Foundation itself is primarily funded by the Saudi Arabian government, through the Public Investment Fund — the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The Esports World Cup is operated by the Savvy Games Group, also owned by the government.

The country’s laws regarding this levy heavy penalties upon violators, ranging from prison time and capital punishment. Although the law provides protection from discrimination based on gender, it does not do the same for sexual orientation.

Although Team Liquid is officially partnered with the EWCF, they are choosing to continue advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and promote their values as such — even if it means possibly offending the Foundation and the Saudi Arabian government. They actually did this at last year’s EWC, though they were allowed to do so by the authorities.

Not Really Enough

Even though Team Liquid is “taking a stand” here, personally, I don’t really buy into Team Liquid’s intentions fully, as they are still competing at the EWC anyway. If they truly want to take a stand, boycotting the competition by refusing to participate sends a much greater message than simply wearing pride shirts at the event.

After all, Saudi Arabia has been accused of “sportswashing” their spotty human rights record, particularly with the signing of megastar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to local team Al Nassr, as well as hosting the upcoming 2034 FIFA World Cup. When it comes to the esports industry and video games as a whole, the country has also been put on blast for doing the same thing — as they have been investing heavily into gaming in the post-pandemic years.

Team Falcons happens to be one of the biggest examples of this practice, as the organization has an absolutely massive presence in the industry as a competitive entity. Right now, Falcons has squads in Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Rocket League, Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, VALORANT, and other minor esport categories such as sim racing.

Of course, the country’s government will never explicitly admit that these ventures in the esports industry are in the interest of cleaning up their image on the world stage. Still, the many sporting events that have taken place over the last few years and those still yet to come undeniably take attention away from Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

The Esports World Cup starts on July 8th, and ends on August 24th, and will take place in the capital city of Riyadh – see the full EWC schedule for details on every game.