Turkish Championship League (TCL) team Galatasaray, famously affiliated to the Istanbul-based football club of the same name, have been booted out of the forthcoming TCL Winter Season for non-payment of players and staff.
In what is something of an embarrassment for the league, players from the team claimed that they had not received any salary from the organisation for months. Mid-Laner Lee “GBM” Chang-seok revealed in a Tweet that he was owed several months salary and then in an interview also confirmed that several other members of the team were owed up to eight months worth of salary.
Riot Investigation
After news of the non-payment broke, Riot set up a team to investigate the issue and that has now come to a conclusion with the organisers banning Galatasaray from competing in the TCL Winter event, the Turkish pro league equivalent of the Spring Split, and furthermore all the players and coaches contracts for the team have been terminated, allowing them to move to pastures new.
Riot have stated that Galatasaray’s position within the TCL will be evaluated once again at a later stage with reference to the Summer tournament later in the year, but even if the team are readmitted, it is likely the owners are going to find it easy to attract the calibre of professional to sign for the team given their non-payment of staff over the last year or so.
However, if Riot feel that Galatasaray are not professional enough to be readmitted they could lose their place in the TCL permanently and face a blanket ban.
Shift in Odds in the TCL
Although not as prestigious as the LEC, LCS or LCK, the Turkish Championship League in League of Legends is one of the most advanced of the ‘second tier’ of esports tournaments that are contested each year in the League of Legends Spring and Summer Splits, with a place in the LoL World Championship on offer for the top teams.
Galatasaray’s expulsion from the event leaves nine teams left to compete and of course, it has shifted the odds of which teams are likely to earn a Playoff Spot and earn a win in the Winter League considerably. Something that keen esports betting punters in Turkey will be quick to react to.
The nine remaining teams, 1907 Fenerbahce, 5 Ronin, Besiktas Esports, Dark Passage, Galakticos, Istanbul Wildcats, Royal Youth, SuperMassive and Team AURORA will now compete in a shortened nine-team Winter event with the top six qualifying for the playoffs and the top two receiving a bye in the Playoffs through to the semifinals.
With Galatasaray not competing, the likes of Royal Youth, who put up a decent display in the 2019 World Championships during the Play In Stage, as well as 1907 Fenerbahce, who were one of the star teams of the 2017 tournament, becoming the first TCL team to finish in the top 16, will be amongst the favourites for the restructured tournament, the final details of which after the restructuring, are yet to be confirmed.
Image courtesy of LoL Esports
