League of Legends’ biggest scandal: cvMax suspended for 5 months after a year’s investigation

For a year now, the Korea Fair Trade Commission has been investigating League of Legend's biggest scandal featuring Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho and finally, there are some traces of light coming in.

cvMax, the ex-coach of Griffin, was under investigation after he was accused of abusing Choi "Sword" Sung-wo physically and verbally. According to another member of Griffin, cvMax often threw his notebook and used to grip players by the collar.

Griffin was found guilty of contract fraud upon further investigation, and has been fined. The team’s CEO, Cho, has been handed a long-term ban as well.

cvMax Investigation details; Riot Korea’s response

Just before LCK 2019, cvMax’s exit from Griffin shocked the Korean esports community. Later it was found that his continuous abuse of players caused a disagreement between them and the coach, which in turn led to a parting decision. According to Sword, the main accuser of the incident:

“He also said I’m disgusting and that he can’t handle me. He said that if we lose because of me, he’ll follow me to the end of the world to get revenge or that he’ll kill me.”

Riot Korea started investigating the matter. They took the decision to ban cvMax until further notice. But a week later, they had to lift the same, due to the lack of sufficient evidence to put up in court.

안녕하세요. 팀 그리핀 입니다. 그리핀의 새로운 도전을 위해 김대호(cvMax) 감독과 상호 협의하에 계약을 종료하게 되었습니다. 지금까지 약 2년동안 그리핀과 함께 해주신 김대호 감독님에게 진심으로 감사드립니다. 고생하셨습니다. pic.twitter.com/aVQS7Y59of

— Team Griffin LoL (@TeamGriffinLoL) September 26, 2019

The controversy did not stop here. cvMax, the current DRX coach, opened up on his live stream stating various occasions where he was treated badly during his Griffin days.

He also spoke up about the incident surrounding LPL-pro Kanavi, who according to him, was unfairly tricked by Cho.

Two Griffin players claimed that cvMax was lying on his live stream. But Riot Korea found Cho to be guilty of the same upon further investigation. Griffin was handed a fine of $85,000 USD for contract fraud by Riot.

The trial of cvMax continued in the courts. In the meantime, Riot Korea involved the country’s Fair Trade Commission to handle the case. The KFTC carried on a special investigation with the help of the South Korean Esports Fairness committee. They finally found cvMax guilty of abusing Sword and a few other players while he was Griffin’s head coach.

Per [South Korean] eSports Fairness Committee, cvMax, the current head coach of @DRXGlobal, has been suspended for 5 months due to events that took place during the time cvMax was working for Griffin.From tomorrow up to May 2020 pic.twitter.com/F4zN5rIHr1

— Ashley Kang #LCK (@AshleyKang) December 14, 2020

cvMax, who was the head coach of team DRX till yesterday, has now been banned from KeSPA for 5 months. He is not allowed to sign for any team till May 2021. The trial is still up and running. The FTC and Riot Korea have clearly stated that their decision is to stay, and that it won’t change irrespective of the trial’s verdict.

DRX's statement on the recent happenings,

pic.twitter.com/PeTg1SRzZR

— DRX (@DRXGlobal) December 14, 2020

cvMax, in his stream, denied all the allegations against him and stated that the complete process was unfair.