Once again the Indian esports ecosystem is under the radar for player poaching and harassment. TSM India, the regional division of world-famous Team SoloMid has accused Godlike Esports of player poaching and unprofessional behavior towards the player transfer.
While on the other hand, Arjun “SHADOW” Mandhalkar has accused TSM India of harassment and exploitation. No response has been given by Godlike Esports whereas Jeff “SuiJeneris” Chau, Director Mobile of TSM India, and Nizhum “Armin” Karmakar, TSM India Lead have been openly responding to the player poaching.
Armin wrote on his Instagram profile, “To be very clear, we talked to Shadow and gave him permission to explore options with the expectation that orgs interested in Shadow will connect with TSM. We have communicated to Shadow and Godlike that we will loan him out for free to start at this upcoming LAN event. This has been communicated for weeks but this organization does not want to do a proper loan and/or transfer agreement as any professional organization would.”
He further added, “So far we have received no communication from any organization wanting Shadow, yet he has been registered under another team for the upcoming Nodwin tournament. Player poaching and tampering are a large issue in Indian esports. TSM will ensure that business is done professionally.”
On the contrary, Arjun “Shadow” Mandhalkar accused the organization of exploiting, harassing, and threatening him. He wrote, “My position in the BGMI community, is due to all of you, who followed and supported me in my game and its strategies. Because of your inspiration, I have dedicated 100% of my mind, body, and spirit to esports and am nothing without you all. Today I am before you to inform you that I have now decided to be a fighter in real life as well, by quitting toxic relationships with certain companies/organizations, formed with the intent to exploit esports players and fanbase.”
“I have decided to challenge the boundaries, which are based on exploitation, harassment, and threat as I don’t want to set a bad example for you all by being exploited, harassed, and insulted. I need your support as this is the biggest battle of my life. I am David in front of Goliath and do not have any support except you all. Love you all. See you soon in the new Avatar. God bless.”
TSM India responded to this accusation by stating, “It’s unfortunate that a player is choosing to make false claims because he’s disappointed he got benched. We have and remain ready to loan him out to another organization and encourage any interested organizations to reach out to us through the normal league process. As is standard practice in our industry and organization need only to reach out to TSM.”
They further wrote, “This has been communicated to Shadow for weeks. The current situation exists only because other organizations do not wish to do a loan and/or transfer agreement as a professional organization would. Instead, they have chosen to instigate drama in an attempt to coerce TSM or another organization to let the player go for free. This is incredibly unprofessional.”
