A Korean professional player in League of Legends made derogatory comments during a stream. The punishment from Riot for his behavior was relatively mild. However, his team did not consider the offense to be so harmless.
Who is this professional? Kim “OnFleek” Jang-gyeom plays for the Korean professional team Sandbox Gaming. The team made a name for itself back in 2019 when it narrowly lost to the team of LoL legend Faker in an important match.
However, during one of his streams, OnFleek went significantly below the belt while reporting a player from his team. The Korean said translated (according to Ashley Kang on Twitter): “The only good Chinese is a dead Chinese.”
This led to a direct punishment from LoL maker Riot. They imposed a ban of three tournament games and a fine of one million South Korean won (approximately €758.50).
Since this appears to be OnFleek’s first offense, the punishment is relatively harsh for a first violation, but still quite mild. Apparently too mild for his own team.
€758 Fine from Riot – Three Times More from the Team
This is how high his fine is: In addition to the suspension and the fine from Riot, Sandbox Gaming imposed another penalty on their player. This means he will not be able to play in the entire first round of the new 2021 season, the Spring Split.
Furthermore, they apparently felt that the fine was not harsh enough. Sandbox Gaming fined OnFleek an additional three million won (approximately €2,275.20). Even that is likely still a relatively small amount, considering that some teams could buy players for up to $5 million.
What’s next? For OnFleek, it appears that nothing is happening for now. At least not in his team. He will not be able to play for Sandbox Gaming until spring 2021.
It is not exactly clear where his hate for Chinese players comes from. It may just be an impulsive action. However, he is not the only player who incites against Chinese players.
In the survival MMO Atlas, there were similar problems. Players have deliberately tried to exclude Chinese fellow players from the game.
