It has been a long time since RedBull’s showmatch event has attracted attention like it is now. This year, participating in this event, the defending champion Worlds 2023 – T1, has drawn the interest of the League of Legends community solely due to the presence of Faker and his teammates, despite it being a fan meeting for T1. However, up until now, the event has left some negative impressions, almost all related to T1.
However, alongside the grueling schedule and the exhaustion of the players, the current focus has shifted to Faker. Specifically, during that event, numerous disrespectful sounds were recorded while Faker was speaking. Many spectators and streamers noted that some individuals created a prolonged “boo” sound while Faker was being interviewed. This was seen as a disrespectful act and sparked intense controversy, even among Western audiences. The incident was later identified as being caused by some overly zealous fans of Karmine Corp.
Recently, the owner of KC also spoke out about the incident. The CEO of the team asserted that KC does not support any form of attacks on players. He acknowledged that a portion of KC’s fans exhibited disrespectful behavior towards Faker. However, he also stated: “We tried to immediately stop those who were ‘booing’ when Faker was speaking. Other KC fans there attempted to dissuade them.” The CEO added that this was merely “an act of cheering for their team, and sometimes they went a bit too far.”
However, many have criticized the CEO for being somewhat… “deceptive.” The culture of Esports and traditional sports has many differing elements. The cheering culture of fans is also different as players endure much more direct attacks compared to traditional athletes. Not to mention, there is clearly a lot of disrespect directed at Faker, and this stems from the team’s own media approach.
– For a team that has achieved nothing in a major region, they are quite loud.
– Every time I start to like KC, their fans remind me how toxic they are.
– Imagine how you would feel if you were in Faker’s position after doing so much for League of Legends and attending this event after playing two major tournaments. MSI, Worlds, and the Asian Games. All (except MSI) went to the finals only to be booed.
– T1 travels the world to play showmatches, interact… and this is how they are welcomed.
Currently, the open letter from the KC CEO and the incident related to Faker are still receiving attention from the League of Legends audience. Faker and T1 may not take it to heart, but surely, the disrespectful actions of a portion of KC fans are causing spectators to have a less favorable view of the LEC region.