This year’s offseason has been full of surprise moves and unexpected drama, with the latest involving T1 and Gen.G.
The LCK is getting in on the action with two competitive rulings against organizations and coaching staff. T1 coach Kim “Roach” Kang-hui was penalized for tampering by contacting a player behind their organization’s back and Gen.G was fined for announcing players before Riot Games’ approval.
Gen.G was fined by Riot Games for announcing player signings before the official approval of their contracts.
In accordance with standard Riot Games procedure, player contract acquisitions and signings must be approved by the League of Legends developer before being official. Korean organization Gen.G was fined for announcing player signings as official when they had yet to be approved by the LCK.
In November, Gen.G jumped the gun on two player announcements, and Riot’s recent announcement is punishing for that.
Gen.G was fined 1,000,000 Korean Won, the equivalent of approximately $843, which is a small sum for the organization. Since Gen.G announced two players, they received one warning for the first indiscretion and the fine for the second infraction.
T1 coach Roach was suspended by Riot Games for alleged roster tampering.
A member of T1’s coaching staff, Roach, was also punished as a part of these competitive rulings. In this case, it was for the much more serious accusation of tampering with player acquisition.
Riot has very specific protocols that coaches and organization staff have to go through in order to talk to a player about possible signings. Roach contacted a player without prior authorization from their team and has been suspended from participating in the LCK for four games. He has also received a fine equivalent to approximately $2,500.
Roster tampering in League of Legends esports is the act of one team looking to recruit players that are contracted to other teams outside of designated roster change windows, such as the offseason.
Roster tampering is frowned upon in every sport with league play, including traditional sports leagues like the NBA or NFL. This is because it undermines teams’ abilities to retain contracted talent and can result in diminished performance from players who expect to have contract offers elsewhere.
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