Just when the controversy over the trade of Yiliang “Peter” Peng to Team SoloMid appeared to be dying down, a damning leak has hit the organisation at its heart.
The leak, which revealed the trade status of current TSM Jungler Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett, came directly from Doublelift’s stream. In the stream, an overheard telephone conversation can be heard between a woman, likely TSM’s President and Doublelift’s girlfriend Aileena Xu.
The original Twitch clip was quickly deleted, with Doublelift ending the stream and deleting the VOD, before restarting. Despite this, a mirror was quickly re-uploaded, and the audio was isolated.
In this boosted audio version, details of the conversation can be clearly heard: “It’s not up to me, for example, no-one wants to pick up Dardoch, that’s not my fault.”
The leak shines light once again on the dangerous conflict of interests that exists when an organisation’s president is in a relationship with a professional player in that same company. It proves without a doubt that Doublelift is privy to inside information on trades, teams negotiations and contracts beyond any reasonable level.
What’s more, the leak strikes a blow to Dardoch and his stock as a player. It’s now public knowledge that the player is firstly being shopped by his current team, and secondly that no other teams are currently interested. As a result, any leverage Dardoch, or indeed TSM had in any future trades is effectively moot.
With this egregious leak of player trade details and contract negotiations, it will be up to TSM and LCS league organiser Riot Games to decide whether this current state of affairs can be left to stand. Doublelift’s relationship with his team’s president has more than just the potential to have wide-reaching effects on players and other teams throughout the LCS, whether the malicious intention is there or not. There is no argument against the conflict of interests and the dangers posed by this any longer.
Keep your eyes peeled on Dartfrog for all the latest League of Legends news and analysis on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.
