Riot suspends two LoL coaches after investigation into abuse claims
Joe Brady/Riot GamesRiot Games has announced that coaches Kazuta ‘Kazu’ Suzuki and Kyohei ‘Ceros’ Yoshida have been suspended from all LoL esports activity for six months following an investigation into allegations of abuse on DetonatioN FocusMe’s LoL team.
The decision comes after a month-long probe into claims made by Haruki ‘tol2’ Shibata, a top laner for League of Legends Japan League (LJL) team DetonatioN FocusMe. The player said in a series of tweets on July 6 that he was forced to leave the team’s gaming house due to the constant abuse and harassment he endured at the hands of the coaching duo.
As part of the investigation, Riot Games explained, the LJL conducted interviews with 11 people, including tol2, the two coaches, and DFM’s management, and “examined recordings and correspondence submitted by various parties.”
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesThe LJL determined that Kazu and Ceros engaged in behavior “that could be perceived as harassment”. Both coaches were fired by DFM on July 7, just one day after tol2 went public with his allegations.
DetonatioN FocusMe have been fined 2 million JPY ($13,690 USD) and will be required to improve the company’s internal anti-harassment measures. Nobuyuki Umezaki, the organization’s CEO, will need to take a harassment training course run by a third party.
According to tol2’s initial claims, Umezaki found out that he had told “a senior in the industry” about the issues in the team and warned him that he would not be able to play in the LJL anymore if he spoke with anyone else about this matter.
Changes to DFM’s LJL roster
In a statement issued on August 16, DetonatioN FocusMe revealed that tol2’s contract had been terminated following discussions between the lawyers of both parties.
This will not affect DFM’s lineup for August 20’s LJL Summer Final against Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS, however, as tol2 has been out of the starting five since the scandal broke out.
AD Carry Yuta ‘Yutapon’ Sugiura has been moved to the top lane, while academy prospect Ryo ‘Milan’ Nakamoto has been playing in the bot lane. But because Milan was added to the team past the June 24 roster deadline, DFM will have to pay a fine of 1.5 million JPY ($10,250 USD).
Sunday’s grand final will be a rematch of the upper bracket final, which DFM won by a 3-2 scoreline. The winner of the series will lock up a spot in the Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage.