Olivia R. December 2, 2019
Turkish Championship League team Galatasaray is being accused of not paying player salaries again.
Mid laner Lee "GBM" Chang-seok revealed yesterday that Galatasaray has not only refused to pay him for the past three months, but haven't been responding to his requests for payment. According to GBM, his former organization had told him he'd be paid the first week of October, but the date was continuously pushed back.
When December rolled around, GBM couldn't hold back about the situation any longer.
Tagging the organization and its owner, GBM tweeted that he wanted an explanation as to why he wasn't getting paid.
"I'm surprised the pro league has a team like this in esports," he continued.
Another former Galatasaray player, Dan "Godbro" Van Vo, responded to GBM, saying he hadn't received his payment either.
"Still waiting after eight months," he said. "Not sure it will ever come."
GBM labeled the non-payments "ridiculous."
Galatasaray denies GBM's allegations
A Galatasaray board member, Erol Ozmandirachi, saw GBM's tweets and addressed his claims. He stated that the organization had paid the 25-year-old 50% of the owed salary already. He then said that GBM would be receiving the other half "very soon."
"We are trying our best," he said.
GBM confirmed that he had received the 50%, but stated that the real issue was that the team lied about agreeing to meet with him, and that they continue to ignore him and other players.
"If I didn't say anything and kept my mouth shut, I think I would wait more than eight months, I feel like. And Godbro would wait more than 1 year for that?" he tweeted.
GBM also revealed that other Galatasaray players are also waiting for parts of their salary as well, including Choi "BalKhan" Hyun-jin, who admitted he was "in debt" because of the missing payments.
Former support Baris "Tolerant" Cepnioglu has spoken up about about Galatasaray in the past. In a TwitLonger, he accused the organization of "not paying their players." Tolerant discussed a situation very similar to GBM's, where Galatasaray kept postponing his payments.
With these serious accusations swirling around in the off-season, it's unclear what Galatasaray's future in the TCL is. Many wonder if Riot Games will step in and investigate the accusations before the 2020 season and others speculate that players wouldn't want to join the roster now that they know what their future may hold.
