The Real Reason ZooMaa Pulled His Call Of Duty Challengers Team

With esports being such a huge component to the modern gaming landscape, especially when it comes to the "Call of Duty" franchise, many budding amateurs have dedicated much of their playtime to honing their skills in hopes of gaining entry into a professional tournament at some point. Because of this, the "Call of Duty" Challenger Series has been set up to allow aspiring pro gamers a pathway to professional competition. Among the many amateur teams that were slated to participate in the Challenger Series was Stallions, a "Call of Duty" esports team headed by FaZe Clan member Thomas "ZooMaa" Paparatto who previously retired from gaming due to injury.

Unfortunately, Stallions has recently been shrouded in controversy due to several cheating scandals. These scandals have included coaches — including ZooMaa's cousin Vincent "VinnY" Gage — communicating with players during games, according to one "Call of Duty" gamer. As the "Call of Duty" Challenger Series approaches, it has been revealed that ZooMaa will not be entering Stallions into the competition, seemingly in response to the recent cheating accusations.

During a recent stream, ZooMaa addressed the cheating allegations posed against his Stallions team. The former pro gamer even broke down instances where cheating occurred, such as the aforementioned incident in which one of the team's coaches, VinnY, instructed a player to take a specific route during a game. Communication of any kind is banned during competitive matches and is instead reserved for strategizing outside of games. ZooMaa acknowledged that what VinnY did is blatantly against the rules and that despite the incident predating the Stallions' formation, he would not be funding the team's entry into the "Call of Duty" Challenger Series.

"I would love to have a Challengers team," ZooMaa told his viewers. "But as of right now, I think I'm gonna re-evaluate things [and] I'm going to pull it back. I'm not gonna be funding [the Stallions] moving forward ... including my cousin [VinnY]." ZooMaa went on to say that he hopes pulling his support from the team would serve as a lesson for its members against cheating.

Many observers have praised ZooMaa for his conduct and holding Stallions accountable for their misdeeds, while also expressing sympathy for ZooMaa being caught up in the entire mess. "Pretty much had to be done," one commenter on Reddit said. "Zoomaa put a crazy amount of eyes on the challengers scene with the Stallions and it's sad that the faith that he put in his cousin wasn't upheld," another Redditor added.