- Colin “Oddity” Ethan, owner of SolaFide Esports, has been banned by Riot for not paying his players and coaches
- Oddity has been indefinitely banned from any association with a team in a Riot-sanctioned league
- He will still be able to apply for reinstatement for a league position after three years
SolaFide Esports owner Oddity failed to pay his team members for two months and withheld all prizes from them. When the news reached Riot, the company wasn’t pleased.
Players’ Aggravation Grew as Payment was Continuously Delayed
Colin “Oddity” Ethan, owner of SolaFide, got into trouble after continuously postponed paying his team members and coaches. The team members filed a complaint that resulted with Oddity being banned from all Riot-sponsored events.
SolaFide Esports is a North American amateur team which was assembled in the end of 2020. It had a decent lineup with some LCS veterans involved:
- Dhokla
- Winston
- Tuesday
- Apollo
- Zeyzal
However team members quickly saw that things are on a bad start after Oddity failed to pay them for the month of January. While the players though there may be a delay, this didn’t seem to be the case. By mid February the players were still left unpaid. Oddity attributed this to a banking issue.
Yet time passed and it was time for the team to receive the payment for February, which they didn’t either, despite two players needing it desperately. To make matters worse, Oddity did not even pay the team their prize winnings from the Risen Champions League tournament.
Disgruntled to say the least, the SolaFide members filed a complaint and brought the case directly to the League of Legends Championship Series officials.
The Aftermath for SolaFide
Upon reviewing the case, the LCS ruled out that Oddity will be “indefinitely banned from any association with a team in a Riot-sanctioned league”.
“SolaFide Esports had not paid the agreed upon wages of its players, coaches, and management staff,” Riot said. “Furthermore, Oddity did not fulfill his obligations and commitments to Team Members regarding payment and withheld prize money from SolaFide players and coaches. The LCS views this as conduct beyond the confines of the best interests of Proving Grounds and other Riot-sanctioned leagues.” LCS officials concluded.
Oddity will still have an opportunity to apply for reinstatement for a league position in three years, after January 1, 2024. SolaFide Esports organization has been disbanded as a result although team members left much earlier because of the lack of payment.
Oddity made a tweet where he linked his apology. He explained that the COVID-19 pandemic led to some of the complications that furthered the delay.
“Unfortunately, this coupled with 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.” Oddity said.
He added that if he had more “hands on deck”, he may have resolved the issues and admitted that he isn’t enough to carry out the whole organization process.
SolaFide’s owner apologized to everyone involved and thanked Riot for helping resolve the issue in a professional manner.
What happened is unfortunate. People’s trust is hardly gained and easily lost. However Oddity’s case may serve as warning to aspiring organization leaders to not start a team unless they are sure they are ready and have the organizational skills to back it up.
