'TSL expelled from SC2 Conference' - Page 36

Translation of the Startale manager's response:

Hello,

This is Startale's manager, Won Jong-Wook.
First of all, I would like to apologize for having to greet you all with this uncomfortable situation and I would like to explain everything from the perspective of a team manager,

First of all, it is true that Fruitdealer and Trickster's lack of professional attitude was wrong, and both players are admitting and regretting that fact that they were overly lazy.

However, Fruitdealer and Trickster's free practice schedule/lifestyle was something that was agreed upon with TSL's manager Mr. Lee at TSL's creation, and it is petty to bring this up as a problem after all this time. If the two players' behavior really was that problematic, then the manager shares a part of the blame for not getting them under control over the past year. Otherwise, the promise of free practice schedule would only have been a lie to sign these two players.

Next, I will talk about the issue of TSL not giving out salaries to their players.
TSL is the only team that was sponsored by multiple companies from the beginning. To be honest, compare to other teams that are run on money out of the managers' own pockets, TSL's manager Mr. Lee is financially very well off. FD and T received their salaries for only April and May, but a part of FD's May salary, about 500,000 WON ($500) was delayed to June after the manager cited TSL's financial difficulties. TSL have received their appropriate sponsor money including FD and T's wages since March, so I don't understand why Lee lied about not receiving their sponsor money. Lee has said that their sponsor money was reduced, but this is only since July, so it is irrelevant to FD and T's circumstances.

Can you imagine how much FD and T blamed their sponsors because of Lee's lies? There should be no blame placed on those several companies including TIMU that have sponsored TSL from the early days of SC2. It would have been a strange situation in which those companies are badmouthed by the very players they sponsor. Can you imagine the sense of betrayal FD and T must have felt when there is no other conclusion than that the manager they have trusted has been pocketing the sponsor money for himself? When FD and T found out that the sponsor money has been coming in, they approached Lee about it, but Lee continued to lie and made up an excuse that the sponsor money came in very late and was reduced. I was disappointed to observe how this situation was folding out. I don't understand how TSL is in trouble financially when their sponsor money was increased this year, which led them to giving their players salaries in the first place. At the time [of FD and T's departure?] TSL was one of the smallest teams and their maid only came by briefly 3 times a week to make their food [presumably talking about how TSL's expenditure was probably low].

I am still trying to understand how they don't have enough money to run their team. Manager Lee said that they give out 1,000,000 WON ($1000) to their players as snack money each month, and that money is enough to pay for their monthly utility fee and car maintenance. He also claimed their their food expenses are over 5,000,000 WON ($5000) each month, but our team only spends 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 WON for 15 player, and that's including feeding them weekly beef/chicken/fish, so I don't understand why TSL needs that much money for only 8-9 players. I would like to ask TSL's manager if he thinks spending that much on food is wise, and you would have to question if he has the right qualities as a manager. I would like to ask him if thinks withholding player salaries to run his team is the correct decision.

The sponsor money is a very important part of running a team. [Blah, blah, blah, then he further talks about the importance of money in life. Not gonna bother to translate all that] There is an old saying that a lie will lead to another lie. I sincerely hope that TSL's manager will become more honest in the future.

The following section is summarizing F and TD's point of view:

We left oGs when they were becoming more organized as a team, because we preferred a flexible practice scheduling. There are various reasons for us joining up with manager Lee and forming TSL.

At first, we started TSL with our relationship with Manager Lee being that of business partners rather than a manager and a player. He promised us free practice schedule, compensation for the starcraft 2 guide [Not sure what this is about], and salaries. At first, Lee was someone in charge of the sponsors, but he eventually became more of a coach. However, he did not keep his promises with us.

Problems with how Lee was running TSL

1. Lack of involvement
There was a time when Lee would visit the teamhouse 1-2 times during 2 months. No matter how busy he was with his sponsors and running his PC Cafe, he should always put his team as his No.1 priority. I don't understand why we had to check our schedule that Lee never told us about on our own. There were occasions when Lee couldn't be contacted, so the outsiders contacted Trickster instead. This was stressful and we asked the manager to improve this, but nothing was done.

2. Withholding salaries
[This part basically says the same thing ST's manager said above about Lee withholding FD and T's salaries and lying to them about how the sponsor money wasn't coming in]

3. Imagerights
Lee did not take down various ads containing our images and when we asked him for a fee for continuing to use our image, he refused. These ads are still on and I hope they are taken care of ASAP.

4. Trust
FD never informed the team that he was leaving. Lee assumed after his phonecall with T that FD was also leaving and it is unbelievable from FD's perspective. He told us that the team's main sponsor is looking to depart during the team meetings and I remember that we (FD and T) even encouraged the other team members to work harder because the income from prize money is a better way to earn money than through salaries.

We are exhausted physically and mentally from Manager Lee's continuous lies. If what he said about the team's financial circumstances was true, then we would've waited for our salaries. After all, we had been waiting since last August, so there is no reason we can't wait more. If it really was becoming difficult to run the team, he should have just told us the truth and we would have willingly not received our salaries.

From what we understand, our sponsor money has increased since March, but nothing in our food menu has changed, so we don't see how the team was short on money.

[The next two sentences are something about their sponsored equipments, but I don't really understand it, so I'll let someone else do it] (그리고 후원사가 선수들에게 지급한 부품중 교체 이후 반납하지 않는 물품을 우리에게는 반납해야 한다며 부품을 가져갔다.
(확인 결과 후원사에 반납하지 않았다)

In any case, Lee is running a team as its manager as well as a PC cafe. Things have gotten better for him since TSL's creation. However, the same cannot be said for us players who have much spent time and passion. We also need to do our military duty soon. It is frustrating to think that only us players have been taking losses from this. I know that his PC cafe has greatly profited from using TSL's name.

It's true that each team should ultimately aim for profit, but there should be an initial investment. That investment includes money, time, and passion, but Manager Lee only follows money.

We admit that we partially share the blame in this incident. We met up with our personal friends and others more than we did with our teammates and there were drinking occasions. Manager Lee probably didn't like us in that aspect.

Some will say that we were unprofessional in our conduct, but we don't agree with that. We are old enough to take responsibilities for ourselves and we put in efforts that we wouldn't be ashamed of. The current situation is regrettable and I don't know how it got to here. I would just like to tell the truth and hope that there are no more unfortunate victims like us from TSL or other teams.

Finally, we would like to apologize for this incident and will try to become better gamers.

Translation of the Startale manager's response:

Hello,

This is Startale's manager, Won Jong-Wook.
First of all, I would like to apologize for having to greet you all with this uncomfortable situation and I would like to explain everything from the perspective of a team manager,

First of all, it is true that Fruitdealer and Trickster's lack of professional attitude was wrong, and both players are admitting and regretting that fact that they were overly lazy.

However, Fruitdealer and Trickster's free practice schedule/lifestyle was something that was agreed upon with TSL's manager Mr. Lee at TSL's creation, and it is petty to bring this up as a problem after all this time. If the two players' behavior really was that problematic, then the manager shares a part of the blame for not getting them under control over the past year. Otherwise, the promise of free practice schedule would only have been a lie to sign these two players.

Next, I will talk about the issue of TSL not giving out salaries to their players.
TSL is the only team that was sponsored by multiple companies from the beginning. To be honest, compare to other teams that are run on money out of the managers' own pockets, TSL's manager Mr. Lee is financially very well off. FD and T received their salaries for only April and May, but a part of FD's May salary, about 500,000 WON ($500) was delayed to June after the manager cited TSL's financial difficulties. TSL have received their appropriate sponsor money including FD and T's wages since March, so I don't understand why Lee lied about not receiving their sponsor money. Lee has said that their sponsor money was reduced, but this is only since July, so it is irrelevant to FD and T's circumstances.

Can you imagine how much FD and T blamed their sponsors because of Lee's lies? There should be no blame placed on those several companies including TIMU that have sponsored TSL from the early days of SC2. It would have been a strange situation in which those companies are badmouthed by the very players they sponsor. Can you imagine the sense of betrayal FD and T must have felt when there is no other conclusion than that the manager they have trusted has been pocketing the sponsor money for himself? When FD and T found out that the sponsor money has been coming in, they approached Lee about it, but Lee continued to lie and made up an excuse that the sponsor money came in very late and was reduced. I was disappointed to observe how this situation was folding out. I don't understand how TSL is in trouble financially when their sponsor money was increased this year, which led them to giving their players salaries in the first place. At the time [of FD and T's departure?] TSL was one of the smallest teams and their maid only came by briefly 3 times a week to make their food [presumably talking about how TSL's expenditure was probably low].

I am still trying to understand how they don't have enough money to run their team. Manager Lee said that they give out 1,000,000 WON ($1000) to their players as snack money each month, and that money is enough to pay for their monthly utility fee and car maintenance. He also claimed their their food expenses are over 5,000,000 WON ($5000) each month, but our team only spends 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 WON for 15 player, and that's including feeding them weekly beef/chicken/fish, so I don't understand why TSL needs that much money for only 8-9 players. I would like to ask TSL's manager if he thinks spending that much on food is wise, and you would have to question if he has the right qualities as a manager. I would like to ask him if thinks withholding player salaries to run his team is the correct decision.

The sponsor money is a very important part of running a team. [Blah, blah, blah, then he further talks about the importance of money in life. Not gonna bother to translate all that] There is an old saying that a lie will lead to another lie. I sincerely hope that TSL's manager will become more honest in the future.

The following section is summarizing F and TD's point of view:

We left oGs when they were becoming more organized as a team, because we preferred a flexible practice scheduling. There are various reasons for us joining up with manager Lee and forming TSL.

At first, we started TSL with our relationship with Manager Lee being that of business partners rather than a manager and a player. He promised us free practice schedule, compensation for the starcraft 2 guide [Not sure what this is about], and salaries. At first, Lee was someone in charge of the sponsors, but he eventually became more of a coach. However, he did not keep his promises with us.

Problems with how Lee was running TSL

1. Lack of involvement
There was a time when Lee would visit the teamhouse 1-2 times during 2 months. No matter how busy he was with his sponsors and running his PC Cafe, he should always put his team as his No.1 priority. I don't understand why we had to check our schedule that Lee never told us about on our own. There were occasions when Lee couldn't be contacted, so the outsiders contacted Trickster instead. This was stressful and we asked the manager to improve this, but nothing was done.

2. Withholding salaries
[This part basically says the same thing ST's manager said above about Lee withholding FD and T's salaries and lying to them about how the sponsor money wasn't coming in]

3. Imagerights
Lee did not take down various ads containing our images and when we asked him for a fee for continuing to use our image, he refused. These ads are still on and I hope they are taken care of ASAP.

4. Trust
FD never informed the team that he was leaving. Lee assumed after his phonecall with T that FD was also leaving and it is unbelievable from FD's perspective. He told us that the team's main sponsor is looking to depart during the team meetings and I remember that we (FD and T) even encouraged the other team members to work harder because the income from prize money is a better way to earn money than through salaries.

We are exhausted physically and mentally from Manager Lee's continuous lies. If what he said about the team's financial circumstances was true, then we would've waited for our salaries. After all, we had been waiting since last August, so there is no reason we can't wait more. If it really was becoming difficult to run the team, he should have just told us the truth and we would have willingly not received our salaries.

From what we understand, our sponsor money has increased since March, but nothing in our food menu has changed, so we don't see how the team was short on money.

[The next two sentences are something about their sponsored equipments, but I don't really understand it, so I'll let someone else do it] (그리고 후원사가 선수들에게 지급한 부품중 교체 이후 반납하지 않는 물품을 우리에게는 반납해야 한다며 부품을 가져갔다.
(확인 결과 후원사에 반납하지 않았다)

In any case, Lee is running a team as its manager as well as a PC cafe. Things have gotten better for him since TSL's creation. However, the same cannot be said for us players who have much spent time and passion. We also need to do our military duty soon. It is frustrating to think that only us players have been taking losses from this. I know that his PC cafe has greatly profited from using TSL's name.

It's true that each team should ultimately aim for profit, but there should be an initial investment. That investment includes money, time, and passion, but Manager Lee only follows money.

We admit that we partially share the blame in this incident. We met up with our personal friends and others more than we did with our teammates and there were drinking occasions. Manager Lee probably didn't like us in that aspect.

Some will say that we were unprofessional in our conduct, but we don't agree with that. We are old enough to take responsibilities for ourselves and we put in efforts that we wouldn't be ashamed of. The current situation is regrettable and I don't know how it got to here. I would just like to tell the truth and hope that there are no more unfortunate victims like us from TSL or other teams.

Finally, we would like to apologize for this incident and will try to become better gamers.