Galatasaray Espor has received disciplinary action from Riot Games, stopping it from competing in the Winter Split of the Turkish Championship League (TCL).
The team has received a ban for failing to pay salary payments to its coach and players.
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Galatasaray Espor was given a deadline to fulfill the payments to its competitors but wasn’t able to abide by it. After an investigation, Riot Games found that the team couldn’t complete the outstanding payments by December 27th and, subsequently, issued disciplinary action.
As a result of the ban, the 2020 Winter Split for the TCL – which is also known as the Vodafone FreeZone Championship – will only feature nine teams. Galatasaray Espor’s eligibility to compete in the 2020 Summer Split will be evaluated should the issues be rectified by a specified time.
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Should Galatasaray Espor continue its streak of missing payments, Riot Games’ right to “unilaterally terminate all players and coach contracts it has acquired for the 2020 season” may well be exercised.
With the exclusion of the team – which is associated with Turkish football club Galatasaray S.K. – the 2020 Winter Split will include 1907 Fenerbahce, Besiktas Esports, Bursaspor Esport, Dark Passage, Galakticos, HWA Gaming, Royal Youth, Bahcesehir SuperMassive, and Team AURORA.
Esports Insider says: If a team can’t fulfill the necessary payments to its staff or competitive roster then there’s no doubt that it’s in trouble and shouldn’t be allowed to continue in such a league. Hopefully things get remedied soon and normality can be reached for the Summer Split and onwards, but either way it’s good to see Riot Games continue to lay down rules for the welfare of the players that comprise one of its leagues.