Why did Honda terminate partnership with Team Liquid? DiasLucasBR controversy explained

In a shocking announcement, Honda has ended its long-standing partnership with Team Liquid following a controversy involving Rainbow Six Siege player Lucas "DiasLucasBR" Dias. The incident occurred during the recent RELOAD 2025 tournament, where DiasLucasBR made a controversial post on social media after a match loss. The post sparked widespread outrage and subsequently resulted in the end of the iconic Honda x Liquid era.

Here's everything we know about the DiasLucasBR controversy.

Honda x Team Liquid partnership ended after over 6 years due to a social media post

During the R6 RELOAD 2025 tournament, Team Liquid faced defeat against Japanese team CAG Osaka. In response, DiasLucasBR posted an image of an atomic bomb on X, which was widely condemned as extremely insensitive. Thousands of people reported it to be offensive and disrespectful.

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As the situation rapidly escalated, Team Liquid's CEO, as well as its official account on X, issued a lengthy apology. Liquid stated that the player has been fined four months' salary and will be undergoing sensitivity training.

Additionally, they mentioned apologizing to CAG Osaka and claimed that the latter forgave them. Team Liquid has also announced donating the entirety of the RELOAD 2025 tournament winnings to a charitable organization.

Despite these apologies, the damage had been done. Honda, emphasizing its commitment to corporate values and social responsibility, announced the termination of its sponsorship in the News & Events section of its official website.

The company's statement in the Partnerships section of the page reads:

"After much consideration, AHM (American Honda Motor Co.) has decided to terminate its sponsorship agreement with the team in question, deeming the conduct to be incompatible with Honda corporate values and unacceptable."

The incident has also cast uncertainty over DiasLucasBR's future in competitive Rainbow Six Siege. While he could continue playing for the team and will be paid after four months, the controversy may impact his image within the esports community.

That's all we currently know about the DiasLucasBR situation. The absence of the Honda logo on Team Liquid jerseys in upcoming events will be a surprising change for fans who are still unaware of the situation. For now, other sponsors of the team have not responded to the controversy.

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About the author

Harshit Singh is a gaming journalist at Sportskeeda, with Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, and Marvel Rivals being his areas of specialization. A final-year B.Des (Visual Communication) student at Delhi Technological University, he is always eager to pursue creative endeavors. Harshit aims to deliver news and up-to-date content promptly to players around the globe. To that end, he acquires information from reliable forums and social media pages and religiously tracks the latest coverage of Fortnite — a game he has been playing since 2018. He is often found testing the new meta in-game or spectating competitive tournaments.

Harshit holds a deep love for video games, which stemmed from the hours he spent playing GTA Vice City, NFS Most Wanted 2005, FlatOut 2, and Total Overdose in his school days. Currently, he is veering towards story-driven, single-player games, with Red Dead Redemption 2 being one of his favorites.

Harshit is an ardent fan of esports titles like CS, Rocket League, and Valorant, with Fnatic, EDG, G2, and Astralis being a few of his favorite orgs. Counter-Strike pro Xantares and Benjifishy, an esports athlete who has mastered both Fortnite and Valorant, are inspirational figures for him.

Harshit works as a music producer under the alias Hysaze. He is extremely passionate about EDM and has garnered over 40 million streams across all platforms. He is also a regular contributor to Fandom’s EDM Wiki.

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Edited by Dinesh Renthlei