According to a report by Dot Esports’ Jacob Wolf, in recent owners’ meetings for the League of Legends European Championship MAD Lions accused G2 Esports of tampering and initiated a vote to pressure Riot Games to reassess its global policies around player signing and poaching. The report claims that the vote went through, passing 8-2 in favor of requesting a reassessment from Riot.
MAD Lions accuse G2 of tampering
The report sites sources who were present in the meeting, and indicates that the two teams who voted no in their request to change the rules were Vitality and G2 Esports. Vitality allegedly argued that the problem is not in the rules themselves but rather the enforcement of them, and that Riot should more diligently enforce the current parameters rather than change them. No information was provided about G2’s reasoning for their vote. The meetings allegedly occurred on Sept. 2 and 3.
This news comes just ahead of the 2021 League World Championship, which also predates the appropriate communication period between teams and contracted players in the off-season. According to Riot’s current Global Penalty Index, when any member of a team, be it player or staff, attempts to entice another player who is under contract, it is a punishable offense, ranging between five competitive months and indefinite suspension depending on the severity and persons involved.
All five members of G2’s LEC starting lineup, as well as their coaching staff, are still under contract through at least 2022, but there have been previous rumors and reports of the org looking to make changes after failing to make Worlds for the first time in five years.
This is not the first time G2 Esports has been accused of tampering, though no punishment has ever been given to the org.
Dot Esports spoke with an unspecified Rioter who told them, “There has been no complaint filed with the LEC, and there is no ongoing investigation against any LEC team on this topic. With regards to the team owners’ meeting: those happen regularly and the topics that are discussed are confidential.”
Upcomer has reached out to MAD Lions, G2 Esports, and the LEC department at Riot Games for comment and will update this story upon receiving any response.
