Galatasaray Esports Banned

The organisation will not be able to participate in the Turkish Champions League

In the latest news from the League of Legends competitive scene, Galatasaray Esports Banned by Riot games. This means that the team will not be able to participate in the Turkish Champions League for the 2020 winter split. 

This is big news as Galasatary were one of the top teams in the Turkish champions league during the 2019 season. They had a good 2019 overall, placing third and fourth in the winter and summer splits respectively. 

Reasons for the ban

The reason cited by riot games is non-fulfillment of payment obligations. Players of the team had been complaining about non-payment of salaries since 2019, including the team’s mid-laner Lee “GBM” Chang-seok. GBM tweeted about the issue, claiming he was owed multiple months of salary. He then revealed in an interview with Inven Global that other team members were also owed money. Some up to eight months of salary. 

Riot games recently concluded their investigation into the matter, finding Galatasaray guilty apparently. The team has been banned for an indefinite amount of time, with no guarantee if they will be able to return for the summer split. 

To re-enter professional competitions, Galatasaray will have to comply with Riot games’ guidelines or risk getting banned permanently. 

All the players and coaches will have the option to terminate their contracts, effective immediately. 

One of the top teams being banned might come as a blow to the Turkish Esports scene. Considering the progress they’ve made, both in quality of teams from the country as well as the popularity of the game in the country, this news definitely comes as a bummer. But if the league hopes to continue their growth in the country. Issues like these will have to be sorted out.