Professional Pokemon Trading Card Game player Alessandro “iCaterpie” Cremascoli stated that he was permanently banned from future Play! Pokemon events after he complained on social media that a judge had treated him unfairly during a recent tournament. As of this writing, Pokemon has not publicly commented on iCaterpie’s ban from competitive play.
The Pokemon Company continues to release new sets and host events across the globe. Following the launch of the 30th Celebration set, the upcoming Pokemon TCG: Mega Evolution — Delta Reign expansion will launch worldwide on Friday, November 6. Delta Reign will have over 135 cards for players to collect. Pre-release events will be held at participating card shops across the globe starting Saturday, October 24.
Pokemon TCG Professional Banned After Citing Unfair Treatment from Judge
Despite having a competitive career that spans over 25 years, one Italian player has been permanently banned from future competitions. iCaterpie stated on October 16 that he dedicated over two decades of his life to teaching the Pokemon TCG to players across his home country of Italy. However, after posting a complaint that alleged he received unfair treatment from a Pokemon TCG judge, iCaterpie said that he received a notice that he would no longer be allowed to attend Play! Pokemon events. Though the complaint was deleted six hours afterward, Pokemon TCG content creator JenTCG stated that calling out the judge by name was the likely explanation behind The Pokemon Company’s decision to ban the Italian competitor.
iCaterpie said that the incident he posted about took place at the 2026 Pokemon World Championships in San Francisco. Ergo, the time between the complaint and the event in question was over a month. iCaterpie said that he received the notice of his ban just as he was about to travel to the Play! Pokemon Nice Regional tournament in France, which is being held on October 17 and 18. In response, some Pokemon players called on the company to retract its permanent ban or reduce it to a temporary punishment, while others stated that the creator should have kept his grievances off of social media.
However, the incident is not the only one that took place at the 2026 Worlds event. Three Pokemon VCG players, also from Italy, were reportedly barred from the competition after a security officer at the Pokemon Center confiscated their passes. The attendees in question, Luca Ceribelli, Luca Lussignoli, and Ruben Gianzini, were confronted after Gianzini joined Ceribelli and Lussignoli in line at the Pokemon Center, effectively allowing him to cut the wait line. Although The Pokemon Company initially told the trio that the Pokemon Center line issue would not affect their ability to attend the rest of the Worlds event, the badge confiscation meant that they were effectively banned on a technicality.
Between the controversy surrounding iCaterpie, and the ongoing threat of scalpers causing Pokemon TCG inventories to be strained, 2026 has been a mixed year for the card game. It remains to be seen what The Pokemon Company’s response to iCaterpie’s ban will be.
Source: Dexerto
