In League of Legends, the US team Team SoloMid has now presented the results of an internal investigation. An international law firm has examined the allegations against former head coach Peter Zhang (28). The coach allegedly “borrowed” tens of thousands of US dollars from players whose well-being depended on his decisions. He is also accused of diverting salary payments to Chinese players for his own benefit.
This is the situation:
- In March 2022, Team SoloMid fired its Chinese head coach Peter Zhang without notice. Zhang had been with the team since November 2018. TSM is a 7-time champion in the USA but faced a severe crisis in 2022.
- The team stated that the coach was dismissed due to evidence of “unethical behavior” and a “conflict of interest”.
- Zhang said he was in a desperate situation, needed money for an operation for his grandmother, and therefore asked players from his own team to lend him money. This is apparently common in China. Clearly, there was a cultural misunderstanding (via twitlonger).
TSM entrusts international law firm with investigation
These are now the results of the investigations: TSM has gone public with the results of an internal investigation (via dexerto). The investigation by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LPP, an international law firm, has revealed the following:
- Mr. Zhang allegedly diverted around $250,000 in salary payments from two former TSM players to himself and others.
- Mr. Zhang agreed to sell a player’s car after the player left the USA to return to Asia. The car was sold for $80,000, but the player did not receive the money until Mr. Zhang was threatened with being reported to the authorities; he then received about $35,000. The rest of the money is still outstanding.
- Mr. Zhang had tried to borrow money from 8 TSM players and staff, including players over whom he had managerial authority. He claimed he needed the money for medical treatment for his grandmother in China. He requested payments between $1,500 and $22,000. Two players gave him about $15,000, of which he repaid about $10,500.
- Furthermore, TSM immediately halted these loans once the team learned of them and also retracted some planned transfers. The company prevented around $54,000 from being sent.
The investigation concludes that Mr. Zhang did not act in the best interest of the team. “Irregularities” were also found regarding Zhang’s role in the transfer of players from China.
The German e-sport scene in LoL is still quite far from such scandals:
Coach and talent scout allegedly enriched themselves during transfer of Chinese players to TSM
What was the actual problem? The investigation concludes that Mr. Zhang, together with a former head coach of Victory Five, who now works as a talent agent in China, facilitated the transfer of two Chinese players to TSM. However, the money was funneled through various accounts to the talent scout and Zhang:
As a result, the majority of player payments between December 2021 and February 2022, including high advance payments, ended up in bank accounts that did not belong to the players.
Furthermore, Zhang reportedly did not cooperate with the investigators who conducted the investigation. He repeatedly sent apologies and kept promising that he would speak with them later.
As TSM states, they have now referred the matter to the FBI for further investigation.
TSM signs 5 players from China and Taiwan – sports success eludes
This makes the situation so spicy: For many years, TSM was known for acquiring the best players from North America and Europe, especially Danes. This tactic generally brought the team great success. They became champions in the LCS 7 times, most recently in Summer 2020 with veterans like Doublelift, Biofrost, and Bjergsen.
After 2020 and a disastrous Worlds, the team lost almost all players who had previously performed well: BioFrost, Doublelift, and the German-Turk Broken Blade left the team. Bjergsen became the coach.
After a strange interim year marked by the extremely expensive signing of SwordArt , TSM initially wanted to sign Bjergsen back as a player, but he left the team. Now TSM decided to make a radical cut.
In December 2021, TSM suddenly began hiring Chinese and Taiwanese players who had not yet made a name for themselves in Asia. However, TSM did not find success with these players. In the Spring Split of 2022, they ended up in 9th place out of 10:
- Between December 2021 and February 2022, TSM signed 3 players from China and Taiwan: 2 supporters and 1 mid laner. All 3 played for the academy team shortly after.
- In March and May 2022, they signed two additional players from Taiwan and China. With “Shenyi” (20, Support) and Maple (24, Mid Laner), they apparently want to start the next season.
Now it seems that the signing of so many players from Taiwan and China was not only a sporting blunder but also has another negative undertone. Because it was precisely during this time of failed transfers that Zhang’s misconduct took place:
LoL: Legendary player says the biggest team in the world damaged its reputation in 2022
