28/04/2021 SolaFide’s Apex Legends roster has also separated from the organisation.
SolaFide owner Colin ‘Oddity’ Ethan has been banned from Riot-sanctioned leagues and events indefinitely after failing to pay the organisation’s League of Legends players, coaches, and management staff since January 1, 2021. This means that SolaFide cannot compete in Riot tournaments unless the team changes ownership. Even if it does so, it can only apply for reinstatement for a league position in 2024 at the earliest.
According to Riot, Oddity assured team members that the initial delay to their January pay was due to a “banking issue,” but players and staff grew increasingly concerned as they also did not receive their payment for February’s work. At this point, Oddity sent the team members a message to say they would be paid within 72 hours, but again this did not happen. Furthermore, he did not make requested “good faith” payments to two team members who desperately needed money.
As well as unpaid wages, SolaFide team members did not receive their prize winnings from the Risen Champions League tournament. Four out of SolaFide’s five players were registered on league-recognised contracts on the Global Contract Database, which have been contravened by the team’s non-payment.
Riot’s blog gives a detailed account of all the goings-on, as well as detailing the evidence that was brought to LCS officials by team members.
As of March 18, all team members of SolaFide’s League of Legends team have left the organisation and won’t be participating in Proving Grounds.
As a result, the Last Chance Qualifier will now have three qualifying spots for Proving Grounds which will extend the tournament to 5 days. For more information on the Last Chance Qualifier make sure to stay tuned to @nerdstgamers. (2/2)
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) March 19, 2021
Also, content creator Diego ‘diegosaurs’ Navarrette has resigned from the organisation, saying in a tweet that “we want to represent honesty above all else.”
Oddity maintains that issues were beyond his control in a Twitlonger statement posted to his Twitter account, saying that the coronavirus pandemic and the “inability to transfer funds internationally has caused us significant accounting issues which has made us unable to pay out our contracts in a timely fashion.”
SolaFide continues to compete in other esports, however it will not be participating in Riot-sanctioned events unless a change of ownership takes place. This currently seems unlikely seeing as Oddity ends his Twitlonger statement saying, “through thick and thin, SolaFide is here to fucking stay.”
Update: As of March 27, SolaFide’s Apex Legends roster has also resigned from the team. Rigo ‘Gentrifyinq’ Padilla posted a statement on Twitter, saying that the roster has “been without [its] agreed upon salary for an extended period of time.” Gentrifyinq, Tyler ‘Dezignful’ Gardner, and Jordan ‘Resultuh’ Resulta will go into the ALGS Championship as a free agent team, however the players are actively looking for a new organisation.