A clash between the UK's best game players has been hit by controversy.

The British leg of the Acon5 tournament gave top Counter-Strike and Warcraft III players a chance to win a trip to a global final in China.

Though pro-gaming team Four-Kings Intel won the Counter-Strike event it was forced to give up a place in the final.

Prior commitments meant some of its players were unavailable for the final. Second-place clan Landed has been given the tickets to the global play-off.

Game gear

Commenting on the unusual victory Landed team manager Daniel Cooper said: "We are thrilled to be representing the UK at the ACon5 Global Final. It will be a great experience for the team, and I hope we can do ourselves credit."

The Acon5 tournament was held on 23-24 April at Uttoxeter racecourse and was the culmination of a series of regional qualifying events held around the country.

Acon5 is a global tournament organised by hardware firm Abit. Similar competitions are being held in another 17 countries and all the winners of these events will meet in Xian, China between 3-7 June for the grand final. Winners of this event get a share of a $50,000 (£26,000) prize pool.

The rules governing Acon5 demand that all players taking part must come from the nation where the qualifying events are taking place.

This led Four-Kings Intel, favourites for the Counter-Strike competition, to field a team with some members that do not usually play for the professional clan.

However, this team did win the Counter-Strike competition but after discussion with ACon5 organisers, handed back the prizes and gave up the chance to travel to China.

Philip Wride, team manager for Four-Kings, said only two of the five team members were going to be available for the final in China as it conflicts with the World E-Sports Games matches. ACon5 rules state that there can only be one change to a team's line-up between qualifiers and final.

Four-Kings also came in for criticism for its tactical play which saw it lose in one round to set up a more favourable encounter later.

He told the BBC News Website: "The players chose to look for an easier match in the semi-finals and so worked the round numbers in their favour."

The Warcraft III competition was less controversial with Alex Bond taking the UK Acon5 title for the second time. Mr Bond also wins an all expenses-paid trip to China for the grand final.

Winners of the regional qualifiers also get prizes of computer hardware.