The Overwatch League has already shown quite a bit: Not only the games themselves, but also scandals around homophobic remarks and racially condemned memes. Now there’s also a middle finger involved. And that divides opinions.
The owner of this mysterious middle finger is Joon-Yeong “Profit” Park and he plays for London Spitfire. Before the second game of London Spitfire against San Francisco Shock, he is seen live in the stream laughing and showing the middle finger to the camera.
The middle finger offends
For some, this was another outrage. “Who thinks of the children?” was the sentiment on Twitter. There, Profit is criticized for not being able to control himself. He apologized in the usual way on Twitter.
There he also clarified that he did not intend any malice and that he did not know that his face cam was currently being broadcast live. At the time of the recording, he was in an audio check with the coaches and other players. The finger was aimed at them – in a consensual joke.
The consequences
While Jack Etienne, CEO of London Spitfire, appeared to take it lightly in a tweet, the Overwatch League itself issued a clear statement. The violation of good conduct will now cost Profit $1,000.
“On Wednesday, January 24th, the player of London Spitfire, Jun-Yeong “Profit” Park, showed an obscene gesture on camera, thereby violating the official rules of the Overwatch League,” says the official statement from the OWL. “The Overwatch League takes player conduct standards seriously and is committed to quickly addressing violations in this regard.”
However, the official rules had not yet been made public, as is the case with the NBA. However, they are working towards publishing these rules on the official website sometime over the next few months.
Guddy says: As a spectator, it would also be good to know what is now allowed and what is not. Much still seems to be up in the air. There is a need for greater transparency and a clear line to be drawn so that the sport can be taken seriously.
It’s just a middle finger, which wasn’t even directed at the spectators but was jokingly aimed at acquaintances. In a game that is not intended for children anyway, I don’t think this deserves outrage from the audience. However, the reprimands from the organizers are certainly justified, as they have set certain rules in place.
