Despite currently serving a 2-year ban from participating in any professional League of Legends tournaments, the former owner of Sky Gaming has recently been mentioned in a financial controversy.
While still active as the owner of Sky Gaming (including League of Legends and PUBG teams…), and later as the manager of the League of Legends team Team Flash, Mr. T. has been accused multiple times of misconduct regarding player salary debts.
Recently, an individual claiming to have invested in the Esports organization Sky Gaming has accused Mr. T. of defaulting on debts, including 350 million VND contributed to Sky Gaming and 250 million VND in personal loans thereafter.
This individual has stated that they are preparing legal proceedings against Mr. T. for asset misappropriation. Evidence includes Mr. T.’s failure to return the share investment, even though he is no longer the owner of Sky Gaming.
According to information shared by this person, they initially agreed to invest 350 million VND in Sky Gaming and received a 10% stake in the organization. Subsequently, a portion of Sky Gaming (specifically the League of Legends team) was sold for an exorbitant price (10 billion VND) to a foreign organization. At this point, Mr. T. requested an additional loan of 250 million VND to “quickly resolve business matters.”
However, it seems that as of now, this amount has yet to be repaid, and when the affected party reached out, Mr. T. showed signs of non-cooperation, leading to the above-mentioned situation.
In response to the accusations from the aforementioned individual, the former manager of Team Flash and also the former owner of Sky Gaming has countered by alleging that this person is the one exploiting the situation, pleading for shares when the team was doing well, but demanding to withdraw their investment when the team started losing.
This individual also asserted that the aforementioned person is one of the reasons behind the dissolution of Sky Gaming (SGD); however, in reality, the League of Legends team of SGD was transferred to Team Flash, while the PUBG team of Sky Gaming faced salary debt issues, leading to its dissolution.
It is unclear whether the former owner’s allegations of player salary debts (including those of League of Legends players when they were renamed Team Flash, at the time this owner also managed the team) are related to the investor’s demand to withdraw capital. What is known is that the most crucial evidence to determine who is right or wrong in this matter appears to be the contracts proving the share transfer, which both parties seem to lack.
This situation may not be resolved anytime soon; however, the clear example of Mr. T. may serve as a wake-up call for those looking to invest in Esports, and more broadly, for the entire structure of professional esports in Vietnam, regarding mandatory transparency in contract signing.