Indian DotA 2 organization Entity Gaming has been accused of mistreating one of their ex-coaches, a medium post read. Anthony Hodgson states, the team was fired, out of the blue. Not to withheld the drama going around in the Indian competitive gaming circuit, this story attracts further negativity.
Anthony, the coach, explains how they were performing well, except the team got fired. Fired, for reasons stated “spending too much money” and “poor results this season.”
Further contemplating the disappointment, Anthony says the contract was shrunk to a mere two months against the initial an year term. Even when some of the players had just renewed their contracts, one as early as a month ago. Though he states, the management has presented the possibilities of working together in near future. However, the team is on “let go” status as of now.
Excerpts from the medium post, which is now on the front page of r/DotA2 also suggest that the players were illegally hired under a “tourist visa.” The post goes on to point out how the termination-in-effect should have been prior with a 30-days notice, which the management reduced to 15-days, that too post several negotiations.
- 30 days termination notice, shortened to 15-days
- the players were hired on a tourist visa
- the contract seems to be valid on “Singapore Law”
Allegations by the coach
Anthony continues “I accepted their 15 days offer. Why? Because regardless of what the contract says, there was no real legal recourse for me in the situation. Somewhere along the line, my employers had become aggressive, and had made it very clear they were not willing to concede any liability. I was still waiting for them to pay for my return flight (and, indeed, my salary for September was still outstanding at the time). If I evaluate myself to not have legal recourse, at some point I have to just play nice to make sure I get the most that I can, rather than risk losing the few things I’m still hoping to get.”
“Why is there no legal recourse? Because I’m a South African, “working” in India on a tourist visa (as insisted by the employer), bound by a contract under Singaporean law. I’m set to leave India in a few days, and can’t afford heavy legal fees. What sort of steps could someone in my position reasonably take?”
Management’s response
After the post started to get traction from the community, Entity Gaming’s manager Sid Joshi responded to the allegations, refuting the claims. In between the comments on Reddit post, Sid revealed why they had to fire the lineup. Retaliating back to Anthony ‘Scantzor’ Hodgson, Joshi wrote, “I let him go because he sabotaged my roster and spoilt our relationship with a potential recruit. The contract never mentioned a severance package and we still gave him 15 days salary as goodwill.”
The response further ignited a controversy about the player in question, “black.” And more ex-Entity Gaming players came out in defense of the Scantzor.
Yang “Deth” Wu Heng put on his narrative and blamed Entity Gaming & management. Deth says Sid is “creating lies” “to salvage the situation.”
“All this to me is just Sid trying to salvage the situation by creating lies and spinning the narrative in a way that portrays them as the victim. There’s no doubt he’s going to continue and try to defend himself and the organisation with lies. But that’s just what they are – lies.”
Former Entity player Castaway suggests otherwise
Travis “Castaway” Waters, another Entity Gaming players, however, has a different version of the story, backing the management. According to Castaway, Entity Gaming’s behavior is far from what Scantzor has described.
“I experienced professional care from flight booking, making sure the food was good enough for us on a day-to-day basis, constantly fixing any internet issues experienced and making sure all our needs and wants were met, that we could just focus on Dota,” he says.
The community is divided on the issue, some blamed it on the organization. Others, reasonably looking for more evidences to have a better perspective.
Though one thing is still unclear. The parties who’ve spoken out couldn’t clarify if the players were indeed hired on a tourist visa. Which will have consequences, dire consequences.
