League of Legends pro banned for poaching

Earlier this year, before the national LoL tournament Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) took place, Dia1, one of the best mid-lane players in the country, surprised fans by leaving GAM Esports to join SBTC Esports. Dia1 was expected to strengthen SBTC and help them score the VCS title. However, he underperformed in the tournament and SBTC only finished fifth, while his old team GAM was crowned champions.

More bad news hit Dia1 when VCS decided to rule him out of all LoL competitions in Vietnam for one year due to transfer poaching. SBTC manager Cao Le Tuan Tu also received a two-year ban from VCS activities, since he oversaw the transfer.

"When player Le "Dia1" Phu Quy was still at GAM Esports, he breached his contract by poaching with SBTC Esports manager Cao Le Tuan Tu. During a meeting with GAM, Dia1 introduced Tu as his new manager. Tu was also involved in Dia1’s contract with GAM at the time without permission," VCS wrote.

In April, another SBTC player, Pham "Zeros" Minh Loc was banned permanently from all LoL competitions in Vietnam hosted by VCS for stating he hoped the Covid-19 situation in the country would grow worse via his livestream so that no teams in Vietnam could join international tournaments. Shortly after, SBTC also fired him.

Zeros also received a global ban by LoL publisher Riot, applicable to all their esports games, which will prevent him from competing professionally in any competition that involved Riot games in future.

LoL is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game launched in 2009. The game is a hit in Vietnam, with its teams having risen in global prominence.