Gamer tournament says it will penalise players for smelling bad

Popular card game Yu-Gi-Oh! latest rulebook says players could be penalised during tournament - for smelling bad.

Many card game tournaments tend to take place in tightly-packed areas where players find themselves clumped together. So, naturally players with poor hygiene can sour the fun.

As a result, Konami - the Japanese entertainment conglomerate and video game company that distributes the Yu-Gi-Oh! playing cards - updated their rule book for tournaments held in the US.

"You are expected to be clean when you enter a tournament. Neglecting to wash or put on clean clothes contributes to an unpleasant atmosphere at the event, as the tournament can be crowded and the day can be long," the updated rule said.

Following the change, fans and players alike were quite supportive. But on the other hand, some had reservations about how this would work in practice and took to Reddit to say so.

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One wrote: "While I'm all for a hygiene rule, I am wondering how it will be enforced. If my opponent at X-1 smells like burnt fish, do I call a judge and say he smells bad? How does the judge verify this? What does that say about his previous opponents? Do they ALL get smell checked? I am imagining some hilarious and cringe situations resulting from this."

"All you guys need to is that it is now mandatory to 'Wash yo a**' (Tariq) to go to events," another added.

A third wrote: "SAY GOODBYE TO THE STINKIES."

Someone else joked: "The judge goes to the table and sprays perfume that smells like a fresh pack of cards. Problem solved."

Yu-Gi-Oh! fans have been known to be passionate and enthusiastic about the game.

In August 2021, over 17,500 people signed a change.org petition to make the game an Olympic sport and described its exclusion from the games as "absolute injustice."

Xiran Jay Zhao, the person who created the petition, expressed that Yu-Gi-Oh! is more than just a card game.

"The playing of Yugioh requires dexterity (when drawing the cards), athleticism (when playing the cards), and endurance (when you're in round 10 of a YCS)," Zhao wrote.

They added: "I now call on the International Olympic Committee to add Yugioh as an official Olympic sport to both mend this injustice and to apologize to Japan for making them go through with the 2020 Tokyo games."

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