Two Korean League of Legends players claim Redemption eSports Porto Alegre, a Brazilian organization, has not paid them and is ignoring them.
Choi “BalKhan” Hyun-jin and Im “Patrick” Jin-hyeok tweeted earlier today they have been waiting for payments for over two months, but Redemption “continue to ignore our contact,” Patrick said. BalKhan, who experienced similar issues with Galatasary Esports last year, said he won’t be a professional League player anymore.
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Angelo Tellechea, the founder of Redemption, tweeted after Patrick and BalKhan did that everything is in the process of being resolved. He said there was an internal disagreement that he was unaware of and that the players are right to demand payment.
Redemption announced BalKhan’s departure from the team April 22, saying he had requested to return to South Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic and his contract had been terminated. Patrick appears to still be a part of the Redemption roster, although he is back in Korea as well.
Redemption finished eighth in the first split of the 2020 CBLOL season. This was the first split in which Patrick and BalKhan played for Redemption. Both players joined the team December 12, at which time Redemption extended three players’ contracts. While they had a good image coming into the split, they were unable to improve Redemptions overall performance and help them reach a better finish than their first split of 2019.
In the three CBLOL splits in which Redemption has competed, the team has made the playoffs once. Their third-place finish in the first split of 2019 remains their best placing, as they finished sixth in Split Two last year. While their performance was not great, they have a complete right to demand to get paid. With the sports scene continuously growing, it’s important that players know that they are protected.
Riot Games should step in this situation and resolve it so that the players get paid regardless of who owns the organization in the end. Over the League’s life, there have been multiple situations where organizations refused to pay players for the entire split worth of money. Riot stepped in when there were some extreme cases but there should be more swift punishment for the teams who refuse to pay their players, otherwise organizations will keep doing and some might even get away with it.
Stay tuned for more information in the offseason as the drama unfolds in every region before the next Summer Split begins.
