The LCS has issued a penalty against SolaFide Esports owner Colin “Oddity” Ethan, banning him indefinitely from engaging with any Riot Games-sanctioned competition. Oddity receives his ban after an investigation found that he refused to pay the League of Legends players on his roster, who were competing in the LCS Amateur scene.
As described by Riot Games, SolaFide Esports first did not pay its players for their work in January. Oddity kept reassuring his players that payment would come after some issues with the bank or investors had been sorted out, yet that money never came. Adding to the unpaid salary, the investigation also found that the SolaFide Esports players never received the prize money they should have earned from playing in the Risen Champions League Tournament.
Once this was brought to Riot's attention by the players, Riot officials investigated the matter and with an abundance of provided evidence reached their verdict.
Oddity took to Twitter to share his side of the story in a Twitlonger. He repeated the claims made to his players, saying that the management of the team faced "strenuous complications caused by Covid-19" which, together with "the inability to transfer funds internationally", caused the team to be unable to pay their players in time. Oddity does apologize for what happened, but has not stated when he will pay his players their due money.
While SolaFide Esports would be allowed to compete in League of Legends again if Oddity removes himself from the company, his statements make clear that that's not in his interest. He will continue running the organisation, albeit without a League of Legends team.
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Image courtesy of Riot Games.
