Recently, the South Korean League of Legends (LoL) team won the Gold Medal at ASIAD after defeating players from Chinese Taipei. Thus, according to the previously announced rules, Faker and his teammates can now rest easy about their careers. There will be no interruptions until the players voluntarily retire or due to unavoidable reasons, such as injuries, decline in performance, or LoL ceasing to exist.
However, Faker and his teammates’ achievement faced a strong wave of criticism from a segment of BTS fans, who are famous worldwide. Those who regularly follow the artistic activities of Korean artists are aware that the members of this group have voluntarily fulfilled mandatory duties. As a result, the entire group has also temporarily suspended activities until all members have completed their missions.
Not long ago, this wave of opposition targeted Faker while he and his teammates were on duty at ASIAD. The protests then subsided as the semifinals were about to take place. Furthermore, a significant number of fans of both Faker and the music group made efforts to explain to the extreme fans of the group to calm the situation. However, recently, after the Korean LoL team won the Gold Medal, the controversy reignited.
In fact, in many forums, some fans of T1 had to speak out to warn against opinions aimed at Faker, claiming that his Gold Medal was undeserved. According to these opinions, if Faker (who only played 1 BO1 match) received those benefits, then their idols should also be entitled to the same, especially considering Faker’s contribution at ASIAD was minimal.
However, countering these arguments, one opinion gained significant support: “Faker has dedicated his entire career, even dropping out of school to contribute to the professional LoL ecosystem in Korea. Therefore, those who oppose Faker should remain silent. He deserves the Gold Medal more than anyone. Without Faker, and the previous Starcraft superstars, there might never have been a situation where LoL could compete for medals as it has happened.”
The situation continues to spark significant debate within the Korean LoL community and internationally, particularly among the overzealous fans of the famous music group.