Riot Games respond to poaching accusations against G2 Esports

Riot Games have responded to reports that League of Legends teams have complained about “poaching” by G2 Esports.

A report by VP Esports alleged that multiple teams in the League of Legends European championship had filed complaints against G2 Esports for “systematic and repeated poaching.”

In League of Legends, organizations (and the players representing them) are only allowed to contact prospective players with the permission of their organization, assuming the player in question is under contract. Contacting a player directly to talk about signing them without the permission of their organization is called “poaching”.

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According to the report, several teams have accused G2 of such actions, specifically via star player Luka ‘Perkz’ Perković, and were preparing a formal complaint to Riot.

The most prominent recent example was the addition of Fnatic star mid-laner Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winther to G2, after which one of the Fnatic owners alluded to misconduct by their rival team. No specific accusation was made, however, and Fnatic have since stated that they are not pursuing any complaints.

Caps joins G2 Esports after reaching the finals of the 2018 World Championship with Fnatic.

Riot Games have now stated that they have not received any formal complaints from LEC teams, says a report by theshotcaller. There has apparently been one complaint from a non-LEC team, but it references events from prior to the six-month limitation period in which such complaints must be made in order to trigger an investigation.

Riot also commented on the case of Caps, stating that he and Fnatic had signed an Availability Declaration Form on November 9, making him eligible to talk to prospective teams without having to go through Fnatic. There is apparently no evidence of any potential poaching prior to this date.