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A short and vague tweet has seemingly marked the end of YaLLa Esports, a once-promising tournament organiser in the Counter-Strike 2 scene.

The company, based in Dubai, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the “YaLLa Compass journey has come to an end,” but that short farewell has left a bitter aftertaste for dozens of players, casters, and production staff still waiting to be paid.

While the goodbye message may have seemed polite on the surface, behind the scenes, it’s chaos. Many freelancers and teams say they’re still owed thousands of dollars, with some claims dating back to late 2024. According to HLTV, YaLLa Esports has now filed for bankruptcy, leaving a messy trail in their wake.

Promises Made, Payments Missing

Romanian player Alexandru ‘s0und’ Ștefan was the first to break the silence. He’s played in five YaLLa events and says his team, Nexus, is still owed $14,000 in prize money. Most of that came from the YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025 event and its qualifier. But the cash? Still nowhere to be seen.

And it’s not just him. Former 500 player Teodor ‘SPELLAN’ Nikolov claims they’ve been chasing their $3,500 prize money since November 2024. That’s nearly a year without pay, not exactly a good look for a TO that was once hyped up as a big part of the Middle East’s esports scene.

Broadcast Talent Left Hanging

It’s not only players. Casters and broadcast talent from the UK and Ireland, including names like Jamie ‘TheEternalJay’ Martin, Freddie ‘GrimyRannarr’ Pritchard, and Jack ‘Zerpherr’ Kelly, have all confirmed they’re out of pocket too. Most of them took to social media with sarcastic takes, memes, and gifs, the only way to laugh through the pain, it seems.

Freelance observer Janka ‘JanicKa’ Vorčáková also shared her frustrations online, joining a growing list of unpaid professionals who gave their time and talent to YaLLa Compass.

Big Promises, Bigger Disappointments

In mid-2024, YaLLa Esports had big dreams. They announced two LAN events with a massive $1.5 million prize pool planned for the year.

Only one ended up happening, YaLLa Compass 2024, and it was won by The MongolZ in Dubai. But even that event, which looked solid on paper, now seems to have come at a heavy cost for those behind the scenes.

In 2025, their Qatar event was moved from LAN to online – supposedly due to scheduling conflicts – and the prize pool was slashed in half. The UAE event planned for November is now in serious doubt, with YaLLa’s website taken down and no word from the organisers.

A Bitter End

With no official statement about November’s event and their website offline, it’s fair to say YaLLa is done. What started as an exciting project to grow CS2 in the Middle East has turned into yet another esports cautionary tale.

“Dear YaLLa Compass, please pay your staff, production, casters and team prize money. You are a disgrace to the industry,” said caster Pavlos ‘ExWarrior’ Georgiu on social media, echoing the feelings of many in the scene.

YaLLa’s rise and fall is a reminder that behind every shiny broadcast and big prize pool, there are real people doing real work. And when companies collapse without warning, it’s those people who get burned.