Is anyone ever going to get E-sports in general and League of Legends specifically under control anytime soon? (No.)

It has long been the position of this blog that e-sports is a quasi-illegal fad that, if ever exposed to the light of day of the law, would not stand muster at all.

First is the post-2019 season departure of Rick Fox and Echo Fox from the North American league -- largely due to racist conduct by at least one other member of the ownership group which Fox and the remainder of the ownership group decided they would rather be thrown out of the NALCS rather than address it!

On May 15, 2019, a preliminary investigation into Echo Fox and a statement of racism on the part of their ownership was concluded, and a 60-day clock began for Rick Fox and the other members of the ownership to address the issue.

They did not, and, by July 15, gave them an additional 30 days to divest.

After being given a period of time to attempt to sell the team, the team was expelled from the NALCS and folded by Riot Games on August 15, 2019 -- as probably a testament to the complete acceptance of aberrant conduct by North American gaming officials, plus the reality that there may not be that much of an in for a third-rate league which amounts to nothing on the world stage, end of the day.

The franchise was sold to former International winners Evil Geniuses.

But now, as the calendar turns to Christmas, we apparently have another major problem, this time in Korea.  (Source of timeline:  ESPN's e-sports reporting.)

Griffin was the #1 team in Korea last year until the Summer playoffs for automatic promotion, when longtime Korean stalwarts SK Telecom T1 defeated them.

Griffin then won their Worlds group with a 5-1 record before being eliminated by Invictus Gaming.

But that's nothing compared to what's gone on behind the scenes regarding the Korean split champions.

By Christmas, the franchise has been under investigation by the Korean E-Sports Association (KeSPA) and Riot Games.

The subject:  Contracts.

Here's a Cliff's Notes, so we don't deny the hard work of Jacob Wolf and Ashley Kang here:

• September 26:  Less than a week before the World Championships begin, Griffin fires their coach, cvMax.  cvMax then claims a lack of results -- but they won both splits in the regular season, the spring playoffs, and only lost to SK Telecom T1 in the Korean finals in the summer split, and were a clear high-level favorite to do well in the tournament!  He had been contracted for two more years with Griffin.
• October 14-16:  cvMax charges a probable improper transfer/loan of a Griffin player to a Chinese side.  That player, under Korean law, was a minor.  His claims are roundly denied by all still involved with Griffin, as the World Championships are in progress.
• Several months into the loan, the Chinese team wanted the player permanently.
• The director of the team charged the player with tampering and threatened to end his professional career -- at which point, the player signed a 5-year contract with the Chinese team.
• The next day, Riot launches a tampering investigation, and the parent company of Griffin launches an investigation against the team director.
• Four days after this, and as a testament to the importance of e-sports in Korea, the Korean parliament receives a bill to strengthen contracts for e-sports players across Korea.
• October 29:  First findings of KeSPA and Riot.  Not sufficient for tampering, but two other problems under Riot rules:  Apparently, loaning players out was a common practice for Griffin, and this was done more than the rules allowed.  Also, the contract between the player and Griffin and the one between him and the Chinese team exceeded the maximum length of three years.
• November 4:  cvMax finds a Korean team to coach in 2020 at the top level.
• November 12:  The director of Griffin involved in this situation quits.
• November 20:  cvMax and the director of Griffin are thrown out of League of Legends permanently (at least indefinitely) by Riot and KeSPA.  The franchise is fined about $90,000 and told any further problems would end their involvement in League of Legends.
• November 21:  The Griffin contract with the player is released publicly, and there are a number of irregularities.  
• The team could cut the player for any health hospital reason -- and, if they did so, that player could not play again anywhere for one year after the cut.
• The player must retain contact with the team, or be fined all of his salary plus about $42,000.
• Four days later, the new heads of Griffin offer players to leave, and three players take them up on it.
• Two days after that, Riot decides to withhold the coach's suspension and allow a third-party to look into abuse allegations against cvMax.
• November 28, the next day:  The player involved in the tampering situation does sign with the Chinese team, but now for only one year.
• December 4:  As the Korean government looks into contracts such as the player's, two of the three players who opted to leave Griffin now join cvMax on his new team.
• December 16:  cvMax is named in a police investigation involving both physical and verbal abuse by a former Griffin player.

Gee...  This sounds awfully familiar...