Turkish LoL pros deny wrongdoing in Dumbledoge homophobia controversy

Former teammates of SuperMassive support Mustafa Kemal ‘Dumbledoge’ Gökseloğlu have denied wrongdoing for alleged homophobic attacks that reportedly led to the player retiring from professional League of Legends.

Dumbledoge’s six-year career in Turkish League came to an abrupt end on February 21, after the support player announced his free agency on Twitter.

The player cited the reason he left “had to do with receiving screenshots of some players in the professional scene making homophobic remarks about [him]” dating back to 2015, according to a Reddit translation. Dumbledoge only opened up about his sexuality in 2018.

The screenshots shared by Dumbledoge included various messages from teammates and other players included insults such as “f*****” and “colossal liar.” In the aftermath of the saga pros have come out to defend themselves, as well as apologise to the support star.

Long-time bot lane partner Berkay ‘Zeitnot’ Aşıkuzun declined ever insulting Dumbledoge, telling fans on Twitter someone was impersonating him in the screenshots his ex-support provided.

“I would like to say that it is not me that you see with the name Zeitnot in the screenshots that Kemal shared,” he said.

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“I have never used a discourse that could be perceived as discrimination in any sense in any discussion. I categorically reject accusations and implications of hate speech.”

He did, however, admit to “acting rudely” to Dumbledoge as tensions rose in the SuperMassive camp after a rough 2019, and accepted punishment from within the team for his actions. This was a separate incident to the alleged homophobic remarks.

Other League players implicated by Dumbledoge’s statement on February 21 have apologised to the support for their conduct. Former Dark Passage coach Şükrü “Uthenera” Şentürk was “embarrassed to death” after seeing the messages, dating back to 2015, once again.

“I could not handle seeing my own language,” he said on Twitter. “Every time I see my friends or people I know share the post and I see their comments, I get ashamed again.

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“When I think about the psychological stress Kemal had to go through when he first saw this I get sadder. The only relief is that he accepted my apology.”

https://twitter.com/Utheneras/status/1230926703381426179

Former Royal Youth Top Laner and 2019 teammate Kaan “Elwind” Atıcı also apologised for his actions publicly, stating he made up with Dumbledoge two years ago.

“I apologized to Dumble at Rift Rivals 2018 and we talked in person,” he said. “I’m not homophobic, we don’t have a problem with him.

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“I noticed my mistake and tried to fix it and I thought things were okay between us. The community will not be satisfied no matter what I write, but I apologize to Kemal once again.”

While he is currently a free agent, Dumbledoge “doesn’t believe [he] will be able to continue to play professionally” after the controversy.

Riot Turkey is yet to punish any players involved, and it’s unclear as to whether they are investigating the issue.