Former Griffin coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho is refusing to accept the suspension imposed by the Korean Esports Fair Commission
On December 14, the Fair Commission found cvMax guilty of several charges of abuse and suspended him for five months. This means that cvMax cannot be part of any team or roster competing in a Riot Games-sanctioned event until May 2021. The ruling came after a year of deliberation and investigations.
“The investigation process was unfairly conducted, with the conclusion already decided and I cannot accept the result,” cvMax said through his Facebook page.
cvMax is currently going through a legal process after being accused of physical and verbal abuse by some of the former Griffin players. Ahead of the 2019 World Championship, Griffin decided to terminate cvMax’s contract. The coach came out and accused the organization of interfering with his work, which led to the poor results.
At the time, top laner Choi “Sword” Sung-won and Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong came out with their own testimonies on the Griffin situation. According to the players, cvMax was abusive towards them, using unduly strong language and going as far as to throw objects at them. Based on those testimonies, Riot Games Korea suspended cvMax for two years. The developer faced backlash and went back on its ruling, allowing cvMax to join another LCK team.
Sword filed a police report against cvMax. That legal process is still underway, but the Fair Commission has decided to take action as soon as possible.
“We requested the commission to decide the penalty after the trials were over, but we didn’t get any answers. We heard that there were a few meetings prior to when they summoned cvMax; last week was the first time they summoned him. The trial is still in progress and I don’t understand why the commission was in such a hurry to penalize cvMax.” cvMax’s attorney Lim Sang-hyeok said.
The head coach refuses to accept the ruling by the commission, and he’s now accusing the members of being unfair. The Korean Esports Fair Commission includes several lawyers, members of important Korean sports-related institutions, and former pro player Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun.
DRX offered its full support to cvMax and asked the Commission as well as the LCK to reconsider the disciplinary action.
cvMax is the current head coach at DRX and the former Griffin head coach. cvMax came to popularity in 2018 when Griffin qualified to the 2018 LCK Summer Split. The team went on to compete in three consecutive LCK finals, failing to win the title each time. cvMax was fired from the team ahead of the 2019 World Championship.
Former Griffin top laner Choi “Sword” Sung-won filed a police report against cvMax accusing him of physical and verbal abuse. In the incident cited by Sword, cvMax yelled at him for his in-game performance while shaking Sword’s chair and pinching him. According to the player, as well as some others who’ve been questioned, it was not the first time cvMax had used such methods to scold the players under his watch.
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