After several days of rumors and converging sources, it's now official. The Esports Foundation announced today the reinstatement of Karmine Corp into the Esports World Cup 2026 Partner Program. The French club thus returns to the program from which it had been excluded when the initial list was revealed on March 31st.
The news reshuffling the deck
During the selection of the 40 partner clubs at the end of March, the EWCF had prioritized a strategy of expansion toward high-growth markets at the expense of a historically over-represented European scene. Karmine Corp, present in the program since its creation in 2024, paid the price of this geographic arbitration, alongside LOUD, Movistar KOI, and several other established organizations.
Each slot allocated to a new organization mechanically implied the departure of another. KC, with its narrow competitive scope and fundamentally French-speaking identity, didn't tick the boxes of the diversification sought by the foundation.
Alongside the announcement in recent months, RFT had investigated the behind-the-scenes reasons for Karmine Corp's exclusion from the program, and it turned out that, in addition to the official reasons (limited competitive presence, French-speaking footprint…), the club's "optimized" management of the program's financial resources over previous years reportedly weighed against the club during the review of applications.
Article from who ? oh Dymey ? once again not surprised about the quality, huge gg.