Riot Games has banned South Korean professional player Kim ‘Clid’ Tae-min from League of Legends for 12 months. His team Hanwha Life Esports had already sorted out the former world-class jungler. In June 2023, allegations arose from two women claiming that the LoL pro had harassed them. One of the women stated that she was still a minor at the time of the harassment.
Who is he?
- Clid is one of the most well-known and successful junglers in LoL over the last 5 years. But his career has been declining since 2021.
- In 2019, he achieved great success alongside Faker, reaching the semifinals of MSI and Worlds with T1. In 2020, he was again in the semifinals of Worlds with Gen G. In the following years, he played with FunPlus Phoenix and Hanwha Life Esports but no longer contended for international titles, although he came close.
- Now, however, his career is facing initial difficulties.
What did the player do? In June 2023, accusations came from a Twitter user named ‘Seoyeon’, who was able to prove that Clid had sent her several lewd messages and a suggestive photo via the KakaoTalk app.
He allegedly sent things like:
- ‘I’m hard now’
- ‘Say something before I pinch your breast’
- ‘Am I supposed to fuck? No, I will fuck you.’
Additionally, a second woman complained that she received similar messages from Clid via Facebook. At the time, she was still a minor and Clid was aware of it.
Riot Games bans jungler Clid for 12 months – role model function violated
This is his punishment: Riot Games has excluded Clid from all competitions associated with Riot for 12 months (via lolesports.com).
For 18 months, he is also excluded from all competitions in South Korea, as decided by a commission for fair e-sports. The reason is ‘continued sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior, and criminal offenses’. (via fair.e-sports)
For a 24-year-old player, this could mean the end of his career. Even if he returns after a year, he would likely have to move to China or take another 6-month break.
The Korean league LCK states that they have reached the conclusion in their investigations that there is no evidence that the women accusing Clid encouraged his behavior in any way. On the contrary, it has become clear that they resisted his unwelcome advances.
Professional players are expected to exhibit impeccable behavior. Clid did not meet these expectations.
Clid has the option to appeal this ban. A commission additionally recommends that he participate in courses to avoid future offenses and to raise his awareness of sexual assaults. This not only serves a punitive purpose but also has an educational effect.
His team, however, already put him on the bench months ago and played without their starting jungler. Hanwha Life narrowly missed qualifying for Worlds without Clid. They finished only fourth in the playoffs and also missed qualification through the regional finals.
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