NEWS
The facts and figures behind Gux's departure
Was Gux contracted to SK Gaming? Did fnatic attempt to legally buy him out of his contract? Why was Gux offered a bribe to abandon SK days before Arbalet Dallas? The facts, figures and circumstances behind Gux's depature from SK Gaming are laid bare.
By Duncan 'Thorin' Shields
Jul 15, 2010 20:17
Was Gux contracted to SK Gaming? Did fnatic attempt to legally buy him out of his contract? Why was Gux offered a bribe to abandon SK days before Arbalet Dallas? The facts, figures and circumstances behind Gux's depature from SK Gaming are laid bare.Introduction
By now most readers will be aware of the back and forth statements across various websites regarding Gux's departure from the SK Gaming lineup for Arbalet Cup Dallas and his reuniting with his former team-mates in fnatic. The aim of the initial statement from SK Gaming was to outline the basic circumstances, so as to explain why Gux was no longer in the SK lineup, but without dredging everyone through the muck by revealing specific sums of money and the contents of private conversations.
Sadly fnatic saw this gesture of professional courtesy and decided to pounce upon an opportunity to paint the few facts known to the public in a manner which skewed all positive inferences towards the side of fnatic, either by way of exaggeration or outright lie, and all of the negative inferences towards the side of SK Gaming. It was bad enough for SK Gaming to lose one of its best players only days before a big tournament and by such unprofessional means on behalf of the team he was headed to. To add insult to injury fnatic's actions have brought SK Gaming's reputation into the matter, attempting to cause significant damage in that respect also.
The name of SK Gaming will not be brought into a state of disrepute and so this matter cannot go unanswered. SK Gaming here presents a coherent explanation, in detail, of what transpired between SK Gaming and Gux and SK Gaming and fnatic from the beginning of Gux's time with SK Gaming until his departure yesterday. There will be direct quotes from conversations and emails as well as times and dates provided so the reader can put together a timeline in his mind of the actions of each party along the way. SK Gaming will not resort to lies, exaggeration or contrived mistruth in an attempt to sway the reader. The facts are presented here and the reader can judge for himself the conduct of each party involved.
Mistruth relies on distraction, deflection or outright fabrication to maintain its existence. Truth can stand on its own and been seen as such, provided enough light is made available.
This article will address and explain six major points:
1. Was Gux a free agent or contracted to SK Gaming?
2. Is SK Gaming withholding money from Gux?
3. Fnatic players donating money to Gux to compensate him for the money it is alleged SK Gaming is "withholding".
4. Sam Mathew's statement in response to SK Gaming's original statement.
5. The ultimatum made by Gux to SK Gaming.
6. Gux's statement.
1. Was Gux a free agent or contracted to SK Gaming?
Gux discussed becoming a part of the SK Gaming lineup prior to the official announcement in February of this year. Tim Ellersiek, better known to gamers as merusame, is responsible for player management at SK Gaming and was in charge of the process of getting a contract agreed to by both sides in place. Tim and Gux agreed on February 12th via MSN to the idea of him joining the the team and the intention of getting a proper contract in place. The terms negotiated by this point were for a monthly compensation, share of cash prizes and bonuses for good placings at tournaments.
In March, at CeBIT, Gux was asked in person by Tim to sign the contract with the aforementioned negotiated terms. He declined as he wanted further time to consider the terms but agreed to get back to SK soon afterwards. Following CeBIT Gux wanted to renegotiate certain aspects of the contract more into his favour. SK agreed to all of his demands, drafted a new contract and sent it out to him in the mail on the 29th of March.
Until this point Gux had still been a free agent, negotiating with SK Gaming, but with a clear interest in sigining a contract with SK Gaming.
To follow up Tim contacted Gux on the 30th of March to confirm he had received the contract and would be signing and returning it. When Gux did not return a signed contract to SK Tim continued to followup again and again with reminders and requests. As these followups went on Gux made it clear he planned to sign, then that he had signed it and each time that he would return the contract.
Tim followed up on the following dates: 23rd of April, 3rd of May, 4th of May, 5th of May, 6th of May and 17th of May. Each time it was made clear that Gux should send the signed contract to SK and each time he agreed that he would. It is also key to note that Gux claims to have signed the contract already.
Some examples:
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller:
The existence of a contract provides a balance between the organization and the player. The player receives his benefits, as outlined near the beginning of this article in the terms agreed upon, and the organization can apply any fines for misbehaviour to the player's monthly compensation should such a scenario arise. Two further details of the contract should be made clear here as they will be of relevance later in this article:
1) The duration of the contract is from the 15th of February 2010 until the 15th of December 2010.
2) There is a breakup fee included of 10,000 Euros if the player leaves the team without being released from his contract. This forms the basis for negotiations regarding transfer to another team during the duration of the contract.
2. Is SK Gaming withholding money from Gux?
As already mentioned there were three routes available to Gux via his contract to earn money: A monthly compensation, a share of cash prizes and bonuses based on tournament results.
Of the tournaments Gux played under the SK Gaming tag only one has paid out any of the prize money, Arbalet Best of Four, and this event paid the money directly to the players so SK Gaming's share was deducated from the monthly compensations. No other tournament has paid a single cent. As a result SK Gaming is 100% living up to the terms of its contract with Gux as far as prize money is concerned.
Gux is entitled to monthly compensation beginning from February the 15th, so up until today he is capable of claiming 5 months' worth if he returns the signed contract. Monthly compensation is not a stand alone issue, it is a vital component of the entire package negotiated with him, accepted by him and as seen above also signed by him. Bonuses are treated accordingly.
As a German company SK Gaming falls under German tax laws which are precise and to the point when it comes to expenses which may be shown and calculated in a company's books. Every single payment made to a person or company must be backed up by a contract that states the payment and/or an invoice by the receiving party. In Gux's case SK Gaming needs the signed contract to be able to legally pay him out the money he is able to earn via the methods listed above. Gux was reminded over and over by Tim Ellersiek that he would receive his money upon sending in the contract which he claimed to be signed and somewhere in his residence.
Let there be no confusion: The only factor preventing Gux from receiving his monthly compensations, share of cash prizes and bonuses based on tournament placings is his refusal to send back the signed contract which would make it legal, under German law, to pay him that money. It is Gux who has delayed these payments, not SK Gaming.
SK Gaming as of right now owes Gux exactly what is stated in his contract and payouts will take place the moment his signed contract is received via fax, scan and later original copy reaching the office.
It is possible other teams can be more flexibile on some of these issues due to their native laws but SK Gaming cannot and it is up to the readers of this article to decide whether sending back a signed contract is something which can reasonably be accomplished within a four month period.
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller:
Transcript of the Skype chat with Sam Mathews:
For Gux to leave fnatic he must either be bought out of his contract by them or accept the breakup fee, which as mentioned was set at 10,000 Euros. The amount of money Gux is currently entitled to including all sources amounts to a sum of 7,000 Euros. In the case that Gux leaves SK Gaming without being bought out of his contract, which is what has occured, he still owes SK Gaming 3,000 Euros after the 7,000 Euros he is entitled to is placed against the agreed buyout fee. At this point this is money SK Gaming will never receive from Gux.
To turn this fact around and make it seem as though Gux is the one owed money by the very contract which dictates he is either bought out by fnatic or pays the 10,000 Euros shows either a very poor grasp of basic arithmetic or a willingness to blatently lie to the public. When each sides' entitlements are squared against each other Gux owes SK Gaming 3,000 Euros and SK Gaming owes Gux nothing.
3. Fnatic players donating money to Gux to compensate him for the money it is alleged SK Gaming is "withholding".
As mentioned above Gux is entitled to 7,000 Euros if he returns his signed contract, a sum SK Gaming is more than happy to pay. For breaking up from SK Gaming Gux owes 10,000 Euros. So if the Fnatic players donate money to Gux he should by rights send this money to SK Gaming, though it appears highly unlikely he will. So instead of having to pay the 3,000 Euros in the contract he signed Gux will instead receive 3,000 Euros from fnatic players for breaking a contract with a rival professional gaming team.
This is not noble conduct by either Gux or fnatic and yet in their statements it is portrayed as some heroic act intended to make up for alleged unfair behaviour on SK Gaming's part. In fact this act is a direct slap in the face to SK Gaming, both in how it was portrayed and in the financial respect. This donated money could also have been put towards the cost of a legal buyout, which will be addressed later on.
4. Sam Mathews' statement in response to SK Gaming's original statement.
TheSlaSH was contacted by Sam Mathews on the 7th of July and he attempted to contact the fnatic manager on his mobile twice that day, leaving a message on his voicemail. On the 8th of July the two had a 7 minute Skype call in which Sam expalined that fnatic wanted Gux back in their lineup. At this point TheSlaSH made it clear that his course of actions would be the following:
a) To check with Gux if he wanted this to take place.
b) To find out exactly what the order of action would be to proceed along this course.
c) To define SK's interests with Arbalet, GameGune and IEM Shanghai all within a three week period.
Skype chats: 2010-07-14 at 16.42.17 and 2010-07-15 at 12.36.23
Less than 24 hours later TheSlaSH contacted Sam Mathews again, having put in place an agreement with Gux for the near future. Gux would receive an immediate 1,000 Euros since he claimed to be broke, he would attend Arbalet Cup Dallas with SK Gaming and his leaving SK Gaming for fnatic would be discussed after the Dallas event. All of this was fixed for Gux on the 8th of July, including the booking of his flight.
It is important to note that as mentioned previously SK Gaming is only covered under German law to make payments for which it has a signed contract and/or invoice from the receiving party. Gux cited being broke as a reason why he could not attend Arbalet Cup Dallas so SK Gaming in offering him 1,000 Euros upfront, to arrive by the time he was in Dallas, without a signed contract were taking a risk that he would at some point in the future send them a signed contract. Were he not to then this payment could not be counted as an expense and thus SK Gaming's overall profits would be 1,000 Euros higher and subject to higher taxation. This was a gesture of good will on SK Gaming's part yet it is suspiciously absent from all fnatic statements which instead allege SK Gaming planned to trick Gux all along and pay him nothing while benefiting his services.
It was made clear to Gux that it would be possible for him to leave SK Gaming for August but that this would be discussed after Arbalet Cup Dallas, not before. In fact it turns out that by this point fnatic had already offered him a contract, being desperate that he play for them at GameGune, as the below examples highlight:
Skype chat: 2010-07-14 at 17.05.35
With TheSlaSH away on the 10th and 11th of July Sam Mathews contacted him again on the 12th during which conversation SK offered a release of Gux and their desire to begin negotiations with fnatic starting from an initial point. Naturally in any negotiation this point can change but nevertheless there must be a starting point to begin the process. Sam Mathews is attempting to deny that Gux is under contract to SK Gaming, an issue which is made clear with evidence in point 1 of this article. It was also made clear that SK Gaming had a solution for the Dallas event in place.
Skype chat: 2010-07-14 um 17.05.55
The positions of all parties were clear at this point: Gux and SK Gaming had an agreement to allow him to play for them at Arbalet Cup Dallas and SK Gaming had openly signalled to fnatic that they were open to discussing the release of Gux as an option following that event.
TheSlaSH:
Sam Mathews claims it is difficult to contact TheSlaSH, yet logs show that he had ample opportunity to. Sam Mathews says fnatic offered SK money for the buyout of Gux, in fact there never was an offer. Sam Mathews denies that Gux was under contract and the only money he offers is from his players to Gux. Sam Mathews talks about the conditions fnatic offered for the release of Gux, despite in reality having never offered a single condition and the only party discussing a legal release being SK Gaming.
Sam Mathews goes to great lengths to point out Gux's fear that SK would trick him by sending him to Arbalet. In reality it has been shown that SK Gaming offered Gux the entire package available to him and on top of that offered to send him 1,000 Euros on good faith that he would eventually deliver the signed contract he had promised numerous times in the past, as mentioned above. Legally Gux was and is still under contract and at no point was he ever told that SK would withhold any of his money, he could collect it upon sending in the signed contract whenever he pleased. This issue must not be confused with the separate issue of Gux leaving SK Gaming for fnatic.
Without being released by a buyout from fnatic SK Gaming of course would insist on its right to the breakup fee of 10,000 Euros. SK Gaming went to every length to make it possible for Gux to leave SK Gaming on good terms and in a professional manner. He would play Arbalet Cup Dallas, collect all of the money he is entitled to with a signed contract, be legally bought of his contract and thus continue his career at fnatic.
Sam Mathews states that SK Gaming showed no interest in releasing Gux, something which has been extensively proven incorrect in this article. The only party interested in releasing Gux by legal means was SK Gaming, fnatic made no attempts to begin or engage in the process outlined. fnatic and Gux for their part made it very clear that in their opinion Gux had no legal contract with SK Gaming, this point will become significant soon.
Sam Mathews says that fnatic and the four members of his lineup offered Gux money to send an ultimatum to SK Gaming, a gesture Gux explained the following way in an MSN conversation with Tim Ellersiek:
The facts are plain for anyone to see: Sam Mathews covered up his and his players' actions in attempting to bribe Gux not to attend Arbalet Cup Dallas with SK Gaming. It is also made clear by Gux that the money offered came from Sam Mathews himself.
Don't forget dear reader that fnatic is not attending Arbalet Cup Dallas and GameGune is after the American event, so the only benefit from bribing Gux's decision in this manner is to hurt SK Gaming at Arbalet Cup Dallas. Suddenly fnatic's attempts to portray their donations as a noble gesture take on a new light don't they? This after it had been clearly signalled from SK to fnatic that SK were open to pursuing the process of having Gux legally released to fnatic following him playing in the Dallas event, which had been agreed previously.
TheSlaSH:
5. The ultimatum made by Gux to SK Gaming.
Gux's ultimatum:
Note he asks for a promise that prize money will be paid "on arrival into the SK bank accounts" and yet in Sam Mathew's statement he claims SK are withholding prize money from Gux. How can both of these conditions be true reader? Why would he phrase his demand in those specific terms if prize money was already in SK's possession?
Also notice Gux's misspelling of Arbalet as "Arabalet" which is identical to the misspelling by Sam Mathews in his Skype chat quoted above in point 3.
TheSlaSH's reply:
The door was left open for Gux to resolve the matter professionally and he was also reminded that there would be consequences for refusing to participate in the legally defined processes by which he could leave. Gux had the choice of denying the contract. In that case SK Gaming would not take him to court, though the outcome would be clear as it had been discussed with lawyers already and point 1 of this article explains that Gux is under contract. Regardless SK Gaming is willing to release, but for his part all of his claims vanish along with SK Gaming's. This means he would not have to pay 3,000 Euros and SK Gaming's 1,000 Euro ticket to Dallas becomes worthless paper. This is understandly not the best outcome for anyone involved, but it is a solution nevertheless.
On the other hand there was the clearly outlined solution that Gux accepts he is under contract and seeks a legitimate transfer from SK to fnatic, with fnatic paying the negotiated fee. Despite all fnatic have done up until this point that deal is still offered and Gux can receive all the money he is entitled to in his contracted, once signed and returned, followed by the ability for fnatic to negotiate for his release from SK Gaming. All parties were made aware of this solution.
TheSlaSH:
6. Gux's statement
TheSlaSH:
Conclusions
fnatic approached Gux, a player clearly under contract to SK Gaming, at ESWC 2010.
fnatic did not enter into negotiations with SK Gaming to buy Gux out of his contract.
fnatic denied Gux was under contract and made no effort to buy him out of one despite claiming otherwise.
fnatic convinced Gux SK would try and trick him into playing even though that is the opposite of the situation explained in detail to both Gux and fnatic.
fnatic talked Gux into sending an ultimatum to SK demanding all rights entitled to him in the contract and yet offering none of the rights entitled to SK Gaming by him signing and returning the contract, despite this meaning SK Gaming would be ineligable to claim any of the money paid to him as expenses of the company as opposed to profit under German law.
fnatic offered Gux a bribe to not attend Arbalet Dallas, days before the event and with his flight already booked, for no reason other than to hurt SK Gaming.
fnatic's manager went offline on Skype once Gux sent his ultimatum and set his mobile phone to patch TheSlaSH's calls through to voicemail.
fnatic and Gux did not get back to SK Gaming, leaving no choice but to release a statement regarding the stand-in for Dallas and an explanation of why Gux would not be present.
fnatic released a statement filled with lies and at the same time suspiciously absent facts of direct relevance and importance to the matter at hand.
SK Gaming signalled clearly to fnatic and Gux that they were open to negotiating his release.
SK Gaming tried over and over to fix the situation behind closed doors with Gux individually and then fnatic once they began interferring.
TheSlaSH:
By now most readers will be aware of the back and forth statements across various websites regarding Gux's departure from the SK Gaming lineup for Arbalet Cup Dallas and his reuniting with his former team-mates in fnatic. The aim of the initial statement from SK Gaming was to outline the basic circumstances, so as to explain why Gux was no longer in the SK lineup, but without dredging everyone through the muck by revealing specific sums of money and the contents of private conversations.
Sadly fnatic saw this gesture of professional courtesy and decided to pounce upon an opportunity to paint the few facts known to the public in a manner which skewed all positive inferences towards the side of fnatic, either by way of exaggeration or outright lie, and all of the negative inferences towards the side of SK Gaming. It was bad enough for SK Gaming to lose one of its best players only days before a big tournament and by such unprofessional means on behalf of the team he was headed to. To add insult to injury fnatic's actions have brought SK Gaming's reputation into the matter, attempting to cause significant damage in that respect also.
The name of SK Gaming will not be brought into a state of disrepute and so this matter cannot go unanswered. SK Gaming here presents a coherent explanation, in detail, of what transpired between SK Gaming and Gux and SK Gaming and fnatic from the beginning of Gux's time with SK Gaming until his departure yesterday. There will be direct quotes from conversations and emails as well as times and dates provided so the reader can put together a timeline in his mind of the actions of each party along the way. SK Gaming will not resort to lies, exaggeration or contrived mistruth in an attempt to sway the reader. The facts are presented here and the reader can judge for himself the conduct of each party involved.
Mistruth relies on distraction, deflection or outright fabrication to maintain its existence. Truth can stand on its own and been seen as such, provided enough light is made available.
This article will address and explain six major points:
1. Was Gux a free agent or contracted to SK Gaming?
2. Is SK Gaming withholding money from Gux?
3. Fnatic players donating money to Gux to compensate him for the money it is alleged SK Gaming is "withholding".
4. Sam Mathew's statement in response to SK Gaming's original statement.
5. The ultimatum made by Gux to SK Gaming.
6. Gux's statement.
1. Was Gux a free agent or contracted to SK Gaming?
Gux discussed becoming a part of the SK Gaming lineup prior to the official announcement in February of this year. Tim Ellersiek, better known to gamers as merusame, is responsible for player management at SK Gaming and was in charge of the process of getting a contract agreed to by both sides in place. Tim and Gux agreed on February 12th via MSN to the idea of him joining the the team and the intention of getting a proper contract in place. The terms negotiated by this point were for a monthly compensation, share of cash prizes and bonuses for good placings at tournaments.
In March, at CeBIT, Gux was asked in person by Tim to sign the contract with the aforementioned negotiated terms. He declined as he wanted further time to consider the terms but agreed to get back to SK soon afterwards. Following CeBIT Gux wanted to renegotiate certain aspects of the contract more into his favour. SK agreed to all of his demands, drafted a new contract and sent it out to him in the mail on the 29th of March.
Until this point Gux had still been a free agent, negotiating with SK Gaming, but with a clear interest in sigining a contract with SK Gaming.
To follow up Tim contacted Gux on the 30th of March to confirm he had received the contract and would be signing and returning it. When Gux did not return a signed contract to SK Tim continued to followup again and again with reminders and requests. As these followups went on Gux made it clear he planned to sign, then that he had signed it and each time that he would return the contract.
Tim followed up on the following dates: 23rd of April, 3rd of May, 4th of May, 5th of May, 6th of May and 17th of May. Each time it was made clear that Gux should send the signed contract to SK and each time he agreed that he would. It is also key to note that Gux claims to have signed the contract already.
Some examples:
"
30.03.2010
7:55:27 PM Tim Ellersiek: yo rasmus, sent you a mail with the new contract
7:56:52 PM GuX: yeah ok cool
04.05.2010
8:04:12 PM Tim Ellersiek: and I also still need your bank details and contract but that maybe tomorrow then haha
8:07:09 PM GuX: i email u bank details in the same mail
8:07:10 PM GuX: with the photo
8:08:16 PM Tim Ellersiek: sounds decent, I will need the contract via postage since I have to show it to the authorities
8:08:38 PM Tim Ellersiek: is that cool?
8:10:08 PM GuX: yeah i know
8:10:23 PM GuX: i will ask my parents on the marks stuff for germany
05.05.2010
8:50:34 PM GuX: tim write here plz and tell me some FAX number where i can send the stuff
8:50:39 PM GuX: cus my mail is screwed up
8:50:48 PM GuX: i have it all signed and everything but my mail aint working.
10:42:31 AM Tim Ellersiek: hey rasmus, cool, [number removed]
06.05.2010
4:17:56 PM Tim Ellersiek: can you send in the next 10mins?
4:18:02 PM Tim Ellersiek: then I can get it set before I leave the office
4:18:17 PM GuX: mhmm i dont think so i have to go to my parents house and theyr at work
4:18:33 PM Tim Ellersiek: later on?
4:18:41 PM GuX: yes i will send it as soon as they come home
4:18:47 PM GuX: they dont live far away so
4:19:16 PM Tim Ellersiek: as long as I have it tomorrow morning its cool
4:19:18 PM Tim Ellersiek: until 12
4:19:25 PM GuX: ye
4:19:26 PM GuX: it will be
17.05.2010
5:06:35 PM Tim Ellersiek: any update on sending the contract?
5:07:10 PM GuX: yeah its coming as soon as i get my thumbs out of my ass ;D"
30.03.2010
7:55:27 PM Tim Ellersiek: yo rasmus, sent you a mail with the new contract
7:56:52 PM GuX: yeah ok cool
04.05.2010
8:04:12 PM Tim Ellersiek: and I also still need your bank details and contract but that maybe tomorrow then haha
8:07:09 PM GuX: i email u bank details in the same mail
8:07:10 PM GuX: with the photo
8:08:16 PM Tim Ellersiek: sounds decent, I will need the contract via postage since I have to show it to the authorities
8:08:38 PM Tim Ellersiek: is that cool?
8:10:08 PM GuX: yeah i know
8:10:23 PM GuX: i will ask my parents on the marks stuff for germany
05.05.2010
8:50:34 PM GuX: tim write here plz and tell me some FAX number where i can send the stuff
8:50:39 PM GuX: cus my mail is screwed up
8:50:48 PM GuX: i have it all signed and everything but my mail aint working.
10:42:31 AM Tim Ellersiek: hey rasmus, cool, [number removed]
06.05.2010
4:17:56 PM Tim Ellersiek: can you send in the next 10mins?
4:18:02 PM Tim Ellersiek: then I can get it set before I leave the office
4:18:17 PM GuX: mhmm i dont think so i have to go to my parents house and theyr at work
4:18:33 PM Tim Ellersiek: later on?
4:18:41 PM GuX: yes i will send it as soon as they come home
4:18:47 PM GuX: they dont live far away so
4:19:16 PM Tim Ellersiek: as long as I have it tomorrow morning its cool
4:19:18 PM Tim Ellersiek: until 12
4:19:25 PM GuX: ye
4:19:26 PM GuX: it will be
17.05.2010
5:06:35 PM Tim Ellersiek: any update on sending the contract?
5:07:10 PM GuX: yeah its coming as soon as i get my thumbs out of my ass ;D"
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller:
"From a legal standpoint Rasmus was and is under a running contract with SK Gaming. He negotiated a contract, he confirmed the conditions, and most important, on 3rd May 2010 and after that Rasmus states that the contract and with this one all terms we negotiated are SIGNED at his end, too (as he received a contract that was signed by SK already so he could have one copy for himself to hold SK liable for all claims he is legally entitled to)
This should clarify the question of Rasmus Stahl being a free agent or a contracted player."
This should clarify the question of Rasmus Stahl being a free agent or a contracted player."
The existence of a contract provides a balance between the organization and the player. The player receives his benefits, as outlined near the beginning of this article in the terms agreed upon, and the organization can apply any fines for misbehaviour to the player's monthly compensation should such a scenario arise. Two further details of the contract should be made clear here as they will be of relevance later in this article:
1) The duration of the contract is from the 15th of February 2010 until the 15th of December 2010.
2) There is a breakup fee included of 10,000 Euros if the player leaves the team without being released from his contract. This forms the basis for negotiations regarding transfer to another team during the duration of the contract.
2. Is SK Gaming withholding money from Gux?
As already mentioned there were three routes available to Gux via his contract to earn money: A monthly compensation, a share of cash prizes and bonuses based on tournament results.
Of the tournaments Gux played under the SK Gaming tag only one has paid out any of the prize money, Arbalet Best of Four, and this event paid the money directly to the players so SK Gaming's share was deducated from the monthly compensations. No other tournament has paid a single cent. As a result SK Gaming is 100% living up to the terms of its contract with Gux as far as prize money is concerned.
Gux is entitled to monthly compensation beginning from February the 15th, so up until today he is capable of claiming 5 months' worth if he returns the signed contract. Monthly compensation is not a stand alone issue, it is a vital component of the entire package negotiated with him, accepted by him and as seen above also signed by him. Bonuses are treated accordingly.
As a German company SK Gaming falls under German tax laws which are precise and to the point when it comes to expenses which may be shown and calculated in a company's books. Every single payment made to a person or company must be backed up by a contract that states the payment and/or an invoice by the receiving party. In Gux's case SK Gaming needs the signed contract to be able to legally pay him out the money he is able to earn via the methods listed above. Gux was reminded over and over by Tim Ellersiek that he would receive his money upon sending in the contract which he claimed to be signed and somewhere in his residence.
Let there be no confusion: The only factor preventing Gux from receiving his monthly compensations, share of cash prizes and bonuses based on tournament placings is his refusal to send back the signed contract which would make it legal, under German law, to pay him that money. It is Gux who has delayed these payments, not SK Gaming.
SK Gaming as of right now owes Gux exactly what is stated in his contract and payouts will take place the moment his signed contract is received via fax, scan and later original copy reaching the office.
It is possible other teams can be more flexibile on some of these issues due to their native laws but SK Gaming cannot and it is up to the readers of this article to decide whether sending back a signed contract is something which can reasonably be accomplished within a four month period.
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller:
"This fact was presented to Sam Mathews in a Skype call and in a Skype chat. Trying to deny it and posting the lies they did won't help Rasmus or nyone involved here. Other than that it shows the character Fnatic and in person Sam Mathews seems to have."
Transcript of the Skype chat with Sam Mathews:
"
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: Sam
Sam Mathews: My players are willing to even donate money to have gux back in the team to pay him, so your facing a situation that if you do this gux may aswell pull out of arabalet as well.
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: the player was told that he needs to send in a contract to receive money
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: if he simply does not, it is his fault
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: and we reminded him time and again"
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: Sam
Sam Mathews: My players are willing to even donate money to have gux back in the team to pay him, so your facing a situation that if you do this gux may aswell pull out of arabalet as well.
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: the player was told that he needs to send in a contract to receive money
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: if he simply does not, it is his fault
Alexander "TheSlaSH" T. Müller: and we reminded him time and again"
For Gux to leave fnatic he must either be bought out of his contract by them or accept the breakup fee, which as mentioned was set at 10,000 Euros. The amount of money Gux is currently entitled to including all sources amounts to a sum of 7,000 Euros. In the case that Gux leaves SK Gaming without being bought out of his contract, which is what has occured, he still owes SK Gaming 3,000 Euros after the 7,000 Euros he is entitled to is placed against the agreed buyout fee. At this point this is money SK Gaming will never receive from Gux.
To turn this fact around and make it seem as though Gux is the one owed money by the very contract which dictates he is either bought out by fnatic or pays the 10,000 Euros shows either a very poor grasp of basic arithmetic or a willingness to blatently lie to the public. When each sides' entitlements are squared against each other Gux owes SK Gaming 3,000 Euros and SK Gaming owes Gux nothing.
3. Fnatic players donating money to Gux to compensate him for the money it is alleged SK Gaming is "withholding".
As mentioned above Gux is entitled to 7,000 Euros if he returns his signed contract, a sum SK Gaming is more than happy to pay. For breaking up from SK Gaming Gux owes 10,000 Euros. So if the Fnatic players donate money to Gux he should by rights send this money to SK Gaming, though it appears highly unlikely he will. So instead of having to pay the 3,000 Euros in the contract he signed Gux will instead receive 3,000 Euros from fnatic players for breaking a contract with a rival professional gaming team.
This is not noble conduct by either Gux or fnatic and yet in their statements it is portrayed as some heroic act intended to make up for alleged unfair behaviour on SK Gaming's part. In fact this act is a direct slap in the face to SK Gaming, both in how it was portrayed and in the financial respect. This donated money could also have been put towards the cost of a legal buyout, which will be addressed later on.
4. Sam Mathews' statement in response to SK Gaming's original statement.
TheSlaSH was contacted by Sam Mathews on the 7th of July and he attempted to contact the fnatic manager on his mobile twice that day, leaving a message on his voicemail. On the 8th of July the two had a 7 minute Skype call in which Sam expalined that fnatic wanted Gux back in their lineup. At this point TheSlaSH made it clear that his course of actions would be the following:
a) To check with Gux if he wanted this to take place.
b) To find out exactly what the order of action would be to proceed along this course.
c) To define SK's interests with Arbalet, GameGune and IEM Shanghai all within a three week period.
Skype chats: 2010-07-14 at 16.42.17 and 2010-07-15 at 12.36.23
Less than 24 hours later TheSlaSH contacted Sam Mathews again, having put in place an agreement with Gux for the near future. Gux would receive an immediate 1,000 Euros since he claimed to be broke, he would attend Arbalet Cup Dallas with SK Gaming and his leaving SK Gaming for fnatic would be discussed after the Dallas event. All of this was fixed for Gux on the 8th of July, including the booking of his flight.
It is important to note that as mentioned previously SK Gaming is only covered under German law to make payments for which it has a signed contract and/or invoice from the receiving party. Gux cited being broke as a reason why he could not attend Arbalet Cup Dallas so SK Gaming in offering him 1,000 Euros upfront, to arrive by the time he was in Dallas, without a signed contract were taking a risk that he would at some point in the future send them a signed contract. Were he not to then this payment could not be counted as an expense and thus SK Gaming's overall profits would be 1,000 Euros higher and subject to higher taxation. This was a gesture of good will on SK Gaming's part yet it is suspiciously absent from all fnatic statements which instead allege SK Gaming planned to trick Gux all along and pay him nothing while benefiting his services.
It was made clear to Gux that it would be possible for him to leave SK Gaming for August but that this would be discussed after Arbalet Cup Dallas, not before. In fact it turns out that by this point fnatic had already offered him a contract, being desperate that he play for them at GameGune, as the below examples highlight:
"08.07.2010
"11:19:02 AM Tim Ellersiek: a) monday we will wire you 1000euro, maybe event oday or tomorrow
11:19:29 AM GuX: okey
11:19:43 AM Tim Ellersiek: have you got a fax?
11:19:53 AM GuX: yea
11:21:02 AM Tim Ellersiek: can you put the contract on it?
11:21:05 AM Tim Ellersiek: I will give you the number
11:21:45 AM GuX: i have to talk with some people becouse fnatic has offered me a new contract"
09.07.2010
1:46:29 PM GuX: and atm im seriously poor
1:46:35 PM GuX: i dont even know if i can support myself in dallas
1:46:54 PM Tim Ellersiek: you will have money on your account before dallas
1:46:58 PM Tim Ellersiek: 1000euro
1:47:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: we'll be wiring on monday
1:47:33 PM Tim Ellersiek: therefor you will have to send me the contract though, for our accountant, she wont send out money otherwise
1:48:34 PM GuX: yeah but if my choice is to go to fnatic
1:48:36 PM GuX: i wont be able
1:48:38 PM GuX: to go with u to dalls
1:48:40 PM GuX: dallas
1:49:15 PM Tim Ellersiek: you would leave the team before dallas?
1:49:22 PM GuX: mh no
1:49:25 PM GuX: but i wont be able to pay
1:49:28 PM Tim Ellersiek: why?
1:49:28 PM GuX: for mysef
1:49:30 PM GuX: myself there
1:49:38 PM Tim Ellersiek: why, we will wire money
1:49:45 PM GuX: yeah i know
1:49:50 PM GuX: but if my choice is to play for fnatic
1:49:53 PM GuX: i would not
1:49:56 PM GuX: be able to go to dallas
1:50:00 PM Tim Ellersiek: yes, then fnatic has to buy you out of the contract
1:50:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: that is fnatics problem
1:50:15 PM GuX: yeah but thats my problem to
1:50:16 PM GuX: so
1:52:17 PM Tim Ellersiek: ok look
1:52:23 PM Tim Ellersiek: we will wire you money if you dont send me the contract
1:52:36 PM Tim Ellersiek: but then you have to stay with SK for july
1:53:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: we are really fucked up if you dont and fnatic can compensate this
1:53:08 PM Tim Ellersiek: they arent playing dalals
1:53:20 PM GuX: yeah but if i go to fnatic
1:53:21 PM GuX: they want me
1:53:23 PM GuX: to play for them
1:53:26 PM GuX: at gamegune
1:53:36 PM Tim Ellersiek: but I booked your flight to dallas
1:53:41 PM GuX: yeah i know
1:53:46 PM Tim Ellersiek: and I would give you money for food there
1:53:56 PM Tim Ellersiek: without you sending me a contract
1:54:14 PM Tim Ellersiek: and after dallas we will talk again"
"11:19:02 AM Tim Ellersiek: a) monday we will wire you 1000euro, maybe event oday or tomorrow
11:19:29 AM GuX: okey
11:19:43 AM Tim Ellersiek: have you got a fax?
11:19:53 AM GuX: yea
11:21:02 AM Tim Ellersiek: can you put the contract on it?
11:21:05 AM Tim Ellersiek: I will give you the number
11:21:45 AM GuX: i have to talk with some people becouse fnatic has offered me a new contract"
09.07.2010
1:46:29 PM GuX: and atm im seriously poor
1:46:35 PM GuX: i dont even know if i can support myself in dallas
1:46:54 PM Tim Ellersiek: you will have money on your account before dallas
1:46:58 PM Tim Ellersiek: 1000euro
1:47:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: we'll be wiring on monday
1:47:33 PM Tim Ellersiek: therefor you will have to send me the contract though, for our accountant, she wont send out money otherwise
1:48:34 PM GuX: yeah but if my choice is to go to fnatic
1:48:36 PM GuX: i wont be able
1:48:38 PM GuX: to go with u to dalls
1:48:40 PM GuX: dallas
1:49:15 PM Tim Ellersiek: you would leave the team before dallas?
1:49:22 PM GuX: mh no
1:49:25 PM GuX: but i wont be able to pay
1:49:28 PM Tim Ellersiek: why?
1:49:28 PM GuX: for mysef
1:49:30 PM GuX: myself there
1:49:38 PM Tim Ellersiek: why, we will wire money
1:49:45 PM GuX: yeah i know
1:49:50 PM GuX: but if my choice is to play for fnatic
1:49:53 PM GuX: i would not
1:49:56 PM GuX: be able to go to dallas
1:50:00 PM Tim Ellersiek: yes, then fnatic has to buy you out of the contract
1:50:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: that is fnatics problem
1:50:15 PM GuX: yeah but thats my problem to
1:50:16 PM GuX: so
1:52:17 PM Tim Ellersiek: ok look
1:52:23 PM Tim Ellersiek: we will wire you money if you dont send me the contract
1:52:36 PM Tim Ellersiek: but then you have to stay with SK for july
1:53:05 PM Tim Ellersiek: we are really fucked up if you dont and fnatic can compensate this
1:53:08 PM Tim Ellersiek: they arent playing dalals
1:53:20 PM GuX: yeah but if i go to fnatic
1:53:21 PM GuX: they want me
1:53:23 PM GuX: to play for them
1:53:26 PM GuX: at gamegune
1:53:36 PM Tim Ellersiek: but I booked your flight to dallas
1:53:41 PM GuX: yeah i know
1:53:46 PM Tim Ellersiek: and I would give you money for food there
1:53:56 PM Tim Ellersiek: without you sending me a contract
1:54:14 PM Tim Ellersiek: and after dallas we will talk again"
Skype chat: 2010-07-14 at 17.05.35
With TheSlaSH away on the 10th and 11th of July Sam Mathews contacted him again on the 12th during which conversation SK offered a release of Gux and their desire to begin negotiations with fnatic starting from an initial point. Naturally in any negotiation this point can change but nevertheless there must be a starting point to begin the process. Sam Mathews is attempting to deny that Gux is under contract to SK Gaming, an issue which is made clear with evidence in point 1 of this article. It was also made clear that SK Gaming had a solution for the Dallas event in place.
Skype chat: 2010-07-14 um 17.05.55
The positions of all parties were clear at this point: Gux and SK Gaming had an agreement to allow him to play for them at Arbalet Cup Dallas and SK Gaming had openly signalled to fnatic that they were open to discussing the release of Gux as an option following that event.
TheSlaSH:
"I want to point out that keeping a player in your roster when he wants to switch teams does not work. I do believe in trading players and I think it is a good way of dealing with CS teams. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you play by the book. Negotiations might be hard and tricky, depending on what is at stake, but in the end the fact stands, the player will leave the former team and join up with another. It is just a matter of terms."
Sam Mathews claims it is difficult to contact TheSlaSH, yet logs show that he had ample opportunity to. Sam Mathews says fnatic offered SK money for the buyout of Gux, in fact there never was an offer. Sam Mathews denies that Gux was under contract and the only money he offers is from his players to Gux. Sam Mathews talks about the conditions fnatic offered for the release of Gux, despite in reality having never offered a single condition and the only party discussing a legal release being SK Gaming.
Sam Mathews goes to great lengths to point out Gux's fear that SK would trick him by sending him to Arbalet. In reality it has been shown that SK Gaming offered Gux the entire package available to him and on top of that offered to send him 1,000 Euros on good faith that he would eventually deliver the signed contract he had promised numerous times in the past, as mentioned above. Legally Gux was and is still under contract and at no point was he ever told that SK would withhold any of his money, he could collect it upon sending in the signed contract whenever he pleased. This issue must not be confused with the separate issue of Gux leaving SK Gaming for fnatic.
Without being released by a buyout from fnatic SK Gaming of course would insist on its right to the breakup fee of 10,000 Euros. SK Gaming went to every length to make it possible for Gux to leave SK Gaming on good terms and in a professional manner. He would play Arbalet Cup Dallas, collect all of the money he is entitled to with a signed contract, be legally bought of his contract and thus continue his career at fnatic.
Sam Mathews states that SK Gaming showed no interest in releasing Gux, something which has been extensively proven incorrect in this article. The only party interested in releasing Gux by legal means was SK Gaming, fnatic made no attempts to begin or engage in the process outlined. fnatic and Gux for their part made it very clear that in their opinion Gux had no legal contract with SK Gaming, this point will become significant soon.
Sam Mathews says that fnatic and the four members of his lineup offered Gux money to send an ultimatum to SK Gaming, a gesture Gux explained the following way in an MSN conversation with Tim Ellersiek:
"11:35:15 PM GuX: i havnt gotten anything for 6 months and i know
11:35:18 PM GuX: i dont have a contract
11:35:27 PM GuX: but atleast he is offering me something
11:35:30 PM GuX: and it feels good haha
11:35:40 PM Tim Ellersiek: he will offer it after dallas, too
11:35:44 PM GuX: yeah i know
11:35:50 PM GuX: but he offers me 3000 dollars extra if i dont
11:35:51 PM GuX: go
11:35:52 PM GuX: to dallas"
11:35:18 PM GuX: i dont have a contract
11:35:27 PM GuX: but atleast he is offering me something
11:35:30 PM GuX: and it feels good haha
11:35:40 PM Tim Ellersiek: he will offer it after dallas, too
11:35:44 PM GuX: yeah i know
11:35:50 PM GuX: but he offers me 3000 dollars extra if i dont
11:35:51 PM GuX: go
11:35:52 PM GuX: to dallas"
The facts are plain for anyone to see: Sam Mathews covered up his and his players' actions in attempting to bribe Gux not to attend Arbalet Cup Dallas with SK Gaming. It is also made clear by Gux that the money offered came from Sam Mathews himself.
Don't forget dear reader that fnatic is not attending Arbalet Cup Dallas and GameGune is after the American event, so the only benefit from bribing Gux's decision in this manner is to hurt SK Gaming at Arbalet Cup Dallas. Suddenly fnatic's attempts to portray their donations as a noble gesture take on a new light don't they? This after it had been clearly signalled from SK to fnatic that SK were open to pursuing the process of having Gux legally released to fnatic following him playing in the Dallas event, which had been agreed previously.
TheSlaSH:
"It leaves me with not much to say, but Sam Mathews is lying from the first word to the last in his statement and it is a shame seeing him doing it. There is no excuse for doing this. It shows the character of Sam Mathews."
5. The ultimatum made by Gux to SK Gaming.
Gux's ultimatum:
"Dear Alex,
I believe it has not been clear my intentions. I will be joining fnatic after Arabalet. We have no binding contract between ourselves, and I would like to state the conditions on which I will travel to Arabalet with SK.
1. You agree to pay the money owed to me in terms of salary before I fly tomorrow. With a printed confirmation scanned to me.
2. You will promise me in writing that you agree to the prize money owed to me being paid on arrival into the SK bank accounts. That equates to around $5000.
I will need these conditions agreed to on EMAIL, If I am to go.
If you do not agree to these conditions, then unfortunately I will not be boarding the plane since you have breached my faith in SK's ability to pay to me what is rightfully mine.
I will not negotiate, if you are not happy with the above then inform me that you will not comply and I will be joining fnatic as of tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Rasmus "Gux" Stahl"
I believe it has not been clear my intentions. I will be joining fnatic after Arabalet. We have no binding contract between ourselves, and I would like to state the conditions on which I will travel to Arabalet with SK.
1. You agree to pay the money owed to me in terms of salary before I fly tomorrow. With a printed confirmation scanned to me.
2. You will promise me in writing that you agree to the prize money owed to me being paid on arrival into the SK bank accounts. That equates to around $5000.
I will need these conditions agreed to on EMAIL, If I am to go.
If you do not agree to these conditions, then unfortunately I will not be boarding the plane since you have breached my faith in SK's ability to pay to me what is rightfully mine.
I will not negotiate, if you are not happy with the above then inform me that you will not comply and I will be joining fnatic as of tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Rasmus "Gux" Stahl"
Note he asks for a promise that prize money will be paid "on arrival into the SK bank accounts" and yet in Sam Mathew's statement he claims SK are withholding prize money from Gux. How can both of these conditions be true reader? Why would he phrase his demand in those specific terms if prize money was already in SK's possession?
Also notice Gux's misspelling of Arbalet as "Arabalet" which is identical to the misspelling by Sam Mathews in his Skype chat quoted above in point 3.
TheSlaSH's reply:
"Hey Rasmus,
thanks for your email.
i do appreciate you being upfront here though I doubt you are the author of this mail.
Anyway, let's get to the bottom of it.
There is nothing wrong in the fact that you want to join Fnatic and leave SK.
First we have to be clear on one thing:
Are you contracted with SK Gaming or not?
If you are, you are entitled to everything we mutually agreed upon and put together in the contract sent to you by Tim. If you are not, you have no legal relationship with SK Gaming at all and are entitled to nothing.
It is pretty much up to you how you treat this matter and I wish no bad feelings whatsoever.
My strong believe is that players and teams have to part ways if one party thinks it does not work. But there is rules and terms.
From my side this is pretty clear. We negotiated a contract, you agreed to it with Tim and there is proof of that. You put on the SK jersey, you demanded the money from the contract and you played officially for SK Gaming. It is quite obvious how this turns out if dragged further.
Still I don't mind if you say you are a free agent. But then at this very moment you say there never was an agreement between you and SK. So what exactly are you claiming from our side?
We hand out contracts to have legal ground for money exchanges. We need that. If you deny this very fact, you are naiv.
If you claim money from SK, you will have to sign a contract, as simple as that. The contract gives you the option to leave the team before the contract expires. Only your new team would have to buy you out. If fnatic does that, we are all good.
But the way you present the matter to me will lead nowhere.
If you won't play at Arbalet, we will have to check our options in this case for the team still attending. But trying to use this as leverage to get position is something I won't accept. Not from you as a player nor from the organization that is behind your initial mail. The way this was presented in your mail will have consequences.
I still believe and hope to solve the matter on a professional way.
Alex"
thanks for your email.
i do appreciate you being upfront here though I doubt you are the author of this mail.
Anyway, let's get to the bottom of it.
There is nothing wrong in the fact that you want to join Fnatic and leave SK.
First we have to be clear on one thing:
Are you contracted with SK Gaming or not?
If you are, you are entitled to everything we mutually agreed upon and put together in the contract sent to you by Tim. If you are not, you have no legal relationship with SK Gaming at all and are entitled to nothing.
It is pretty much up to you how you treat this matter and I wish no bad feelings whatsoever.
My strong believe is that players and teams have to part ways if one party thinks it does not work. But there is rules and terms.
From my side this is pretty clear. We negotiated a contract, you agreed to it with Tim and there is proof of that. You put on the SK jersey, you demanded the money from the contract and you played officially for SK Gaming. It is quite obvious how this turns out if dragged further.
Still I don't mind if you say you are a free agent. But then at this very moment you say there never was an agreement between you and SK. So what exactly are you claiming from our side?
We hand out contracts to have legal ground for money exchanges. We need that. If you deny this very fact, you are naiv.
If you claim money from SK, you will have to sign a contract, as simple as that. The contract gives you the option to leave the team before the contract expires. Only your new team would have to buy you out. If fnatic does that, we are all good.
But the way you present the matter to me will lead nowhere.
If you won't play at Arbalet, we will have to check our options in this case for the team still attending. But trying to use this as leverage to get position is something I won't accept. Not from you as a player nor from the organization that is behind your initial mail. The way this was presented in your mail will have consequences.
I still believe and hope to solve the matter on a professional way.
Alex"
The door was left open for Gux to resolve the matter professionally and he was also reminded that there would be consequences for refusing to participate in the legally defined processes by which he could leave. Gux had the choice of denying the contract. In that case SK Gaming would not take him to court, though the outcome would be clear as it had been discussed with lawyers already and point 1 of this article explains that Gux is under contract. Regardless SK Gaming is willing to release, but for his part all of his claims vanish along with SK Gaming's. This means he would not have to pay 3,000 Euros and SK Gaming's 1,000 Euro ticket to Dallas becomes worthless paper. This is understandly not the best outcome for anyone involved, but it is a solution nevertheless.
On the other hand there was the clearly outlined solution that Gux accepts he is under contract and seeks a legitimate transfer from SK to fnatic, with fnatic paying the negotiated fee. Despite all fnatic have done up until this point that deal is still offered and Gux can receive all the money he is entitled to in his contracted, once signed and returned, followed by the ability for fnatic to negotiate for his release from SK Gaming. All parties were made aware of this solution.
TheSlaSH:
"If I had accepted Rasmus ultimatum, I would have denied all everyone in eSports is working for every day. There is rules and they need to be kept. I could not let Rasmus Stahl and in his background Fnatic or their remaining CS players take SK Gaming hostage for a situation that had two ways of solving it on the table already."
6. Gux's statement
TheSlaSH:
"In his statement Rasmus puts the SK players first and says how great of a companion these guys were. It makes me furious to read those lines. Rasmus was welcomed to the whole organization of SK Gaming with open arms from the start. Negotiations took way longer than with any other player before and we gave way argument after argument to meet his demands, resulting in a contract being six weeks delayed. With his action, Rasmus betrayed the very players he mentions above. They welcomed him, they integrated him, they made him a part of something.
Only two days before an extremely important three weeks of exciting tournaments, Rasmus is leaving these guys. It was Tim who called Robban to give him the bad news. Rasmus did not tell his so beloved mates what was about to happen. In fact we tried to fix this and by him going with the guys to Dallas giving him the chance to talk to them after the tournament, face to face. It is disgusting how Rasmus tries to hide his bad move towards those four great players, Robban, Walle, Face and Allen by such a poor phrase as a starter of his statement. The fact remains, what he did was betraying these guys and backstabbing them.
In his statement Rasmus clearly says that it was f0rest who offered him the way back into Fnatic and it was this very moment that made him think about it. So the whole mess started in Paris, on the last day of ESWC. Not before that. The timing could not be worse. Fnatic was in desperate need of someone to replace Threat. Instead of talking to SK first, they took a shortcut, offered Rasmus a new contract, offered money for him not to attend Arbalet with SK and denied the very fact that they would have to buy the player out of a contract. They even made Rasmus believe that he was under no legal bindings whatsoever. Fnatic could and should have waited. Fact is, they can't. ESWC seemed to have disappointed them in a way that they had to take action no matter at what cost. The result is a disaster and it is only themselves to blame for the outcome.
In his statement Rasmus is trying to say that we had a loose agreement instead of a contractual relationship. I guess a hint to point 1. of this [article] shows how very wrong Rasmus is here. I am quite sure those words are not his own the same way his ultimatum isn't his handwriting.
In his statement Rasmus states that his main reason to leave was SK not delivering. And again I will have to point to 1. We tried and tried and tried. In the end we even wired money his way without the contract being returned as he seemed desperate and needed money. SK Gaming made it very clear that for all payments to be on time and in place, Rasmus had to do one thing only, return the contract he had already signed according to his own saying. So Rasmus is lying here.
In his statement Rasmus denies the offer of 3,000 from Sam Mathews if he does not go to Dallas. As shown above the opposite is exactly what he told Tim. And no matter how you declare this money or where it comes from, it was money promised for Rasmus sending out an email that put all efforts to jeopardy. The answer from my side was clear before he clicked the "send" button, Fnatic knew that. Probably they made Rasmus believe this would work out for him, but I doubt they really believed in this. And even then I left all doors open to Rasmus and Fnatic to work this out."
Only two days before an extremely important three weeks of exciting tournaments, Rasmus is leaving these guys. It was Tim who called Robban to give him the bad news. Rasmus did not tell his so beloved mates what was about to happen. In fact we tried to fix this and by him going with the guys to Dallas giving him the chance to talk to them after the tournament, face to face. It is disgusting how Rasmus tries to hide his bad move towards those four great players, Robban, Walle, Face and Allen by such a poor phrase as a starter of his statement. The fact remains, what he did was betraying these guys and backstabbing them.
In his statement Rasmus clearly says that it was f0rest who offered him the way back into Fnatic and it was this very moment that made him think about it. So the whole mess started in Paris, on the last day of ESWC. Not before that. The timing could not be worse. Fnatic was in desperate need of someone to replace Threat. Instead of talking to SK first, they took a shortcut, offered Rasmus a new contract, offered money for him not to attend Arbalet with SK and denied the very fact that they would have to buy the player out of a contract. They even made Rasmus believe that he was under no legal bindings whatsoever. Fnatic could and should have waited. Fact is, they can't. ESWC seemed to have disappointed them in a way that they had to take action no matter at what cost. The result is a disaster and it is only themselves to blame for the outcome.
In his statement Rasmus is trying to say that we had a loose agreement instead of a contractual relationship. I guess a hint to point 1. of this [article] shows how very wrong Rasmus is here. I am quite sure those words are not his own the same way his ultimatum isn't his handwriting.
In his statement Rasmus states that his main reason to leave was SK not delivering. And again I will have to point to 1. We tried and tried and tried. In the end we even wired money his way without the contract being returned as he seemed desperate and needed money. SK Gaming made it very clear that for all payments to be on time and in place, Rasmus had to do one thing only, return the contract he had already signed according to his own saying. So Rasmus is lying here.
In his statement Rasmus denies the offer of 3,000 from Sam Mathews if he does not go to Dallas. As shown above the opposite is exactly what he told Tim. And no matter how you declare this money or where it comes from, it was money promised for Rasmus sending out an email that put all efforts to jeopardy. The answer from my side was clear before he clicked the "send" button, Fnatic knew that. Probably they made Rasmus believe this would work out for him, but I doubt they really believed in this. And even then I left all doors open to Rasmus and Fnatic to work this out."
Conclusions
fnatic approached Gux, a player clearly under contract to SK Gaming, at ESWC 2010.
fnatic did not enter into negotiations with SK Gaming to buy Gux out of his contract.
fnatic denied Gux was under contract and made no effort to buy him out of one despite claiming otherwise.
fnatic convinced Gux SK would try and trick him into playing even though that is the opposite of the situation explained in detail to both Gux and fnatic.
fnatic talked Gux into sending an ultimatum to SK demanding all rights entitled to him in the contract and yet offering none of the rights entitled to SK Gaming by him signing and returning the contract, despite this meaning SK Gaming would be ineligable to claim any of the money paid to him as expenses of the company as opposed to profit under German law.
fnatic offered Gux a bribe to not attend Arbalet Dallas, days before the event and with his flight already booked, for no reason other than to hurt SK Gaming.
fnatic's manager went offline on Skype once Gux sent his ultimatum and set his mobile phone to patch TheSlaSH's calls through to voicemail.
fnatic and Gux did not get back to SK Gaming, leaving no choice but to release a statement regarding the stand-in for Dallas and an explanation of why Gux would not be present.
fnatic released a statement filled with lies and at the same time suspiciously absent facts of direct relevance and importance to the matter at hand.
SK Gaming signalled clearly to fnatic and Gux that they were open to negotiating his release.
SK Gaming tried over and over to fix the situation behind closed doors with Gux individually and then fnatic once they began interferring.
TheSlaSH:
"I hope I could reveal the truth and all happenings to the community. Fnatic fan or not, the way this way played from the start was unprofessional and extremely bad. Not only for all parties involved (with Rasmus taking the most damage here, financially!) but for eSports in general. Fnatic and especially Sam Mathews showed their real character when it comes down to respect within eSport."
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1/ SK had to pay GuX, at least the cashprize he won (ok, let's just say no salary because he hadn't signed the contract), this is called respect. When someone works for you, even if there isn't anything official, you pay him.
2/ Fnatic should have been more compliant with SK : you can't pick a player from a professional team without any discussion, this is not according to etiquette and is not relevant to teams who want to be professionals.
tl;dr : don't try to look pro if you don't do things as a pro.
My opinion in this case is that GuX should accept that SK-gaming contract (so he will get moneys) and SK-gaming manager and Fnatic manager should talk together about transfer fee like 5000euros.
If they are ready to give 3000euros to GuX himself why not 5000euros to SK to get him without no one getting blamed.
Also SK-gaming would get allmost all moneys back etc and they will not get blamed.
2.SK has ruined like around 3-6 upcoming semi elite teams in sweden with doing offers they couldnt refuse so the team got split 1 become maybe famous rest got fed to the lions and quited gaming.
3.SK should make a timelimit for gux to write the contract or get another player in if not sended, He will be out from events and new player will step into the team example moddii(former cheater like most toplayers today lul) Therefore its SK-Gaming company/organisations own fault for being unproffesional in this matter no offence you prolly wanted to be nice to him.
And you knew he was an awsome and a key player, But that doesnt make it right to be stupid(examples like this can happen then) If now this is what happened what is written in this post.
4. You said that you couldnt pay gux due to no contract delivered to you by law, Well Its illegal for fnatic to send you 3000 euros then to! unless its done the dirty buissnes way.
Wich makes this statement really poor.
after whats written im on neither sides, But if i would go back and look what SK has done in the past to the swedish cs scene well.... i would be on gux side 100% all the way, Ive allways hated SK gaming for what they did to the semi elites scene when i was in it myself. Not the players how the CS 1.6 Swe team handled their drafts, Ofc it was smart choices they did but really damn lame money is king.
SK has done FAR FAR FAR FAAAAAAAR worse than gux just did(if he now did it like its stated) go back to 2002-2008 and follow SK 1.6 swe team just do it please you would understand why i kinda stick to gux side overhere, I like SK team but the counter-strike section to me is like kindergarden 0 proffesionalism at all.
Bet there will come some newschool kiddo that didnt even play cs or fps games at high level at year 1999 even and qq at my post anyway be more proffesional look at Soccer, There is alot to learn according to contract.
why is fnatic "the bad guy" all of a sudden when we have the tentpole incident with SK + SK snatching players from other teams that had to disband because of it.
2. so what? if thye made legal offers and bought out the players? it's professional
3. yeah, sk could have handled it better. We just see that gux was a very important player that they didn't make it...
4. i think that was just a conclusion cause the buyout fee was 10000 euro and gux should have recieved 7000 if he accepted the contract, so this wasn't serious talking.
so plz keep neutral if you want to ease their arguments.
the text from sk now isn't that neutral too. plz just give facts without opinions and believes of what could have happened between fnatic and sk. I think the arguments that gux didn't send you back the contracts are strong enough from a legal point of view...
Shit argument? reason? if you can give me a valid reason for being bs then i can agree but you are just saying its bs, And no reason...
Its like all on this post should write bs,and not give reason for it that dont hold.
And as i stated i do not hate SK i hate how sk swe 1.6 have handled the swedish scene NOT the orginisation!
If i write this
Saturday 20:00 last week i took the train to sthlm then i took the train to malmö again and was home 02:00.
that dont make it true? same goes for this.
I don't think we will ever get 100% proof on who is at fault here. Acctually i think it's both fnatic and SK's fault and not just one part.
So i think both organisations should stop acting like friggin kindergarden gingerboys.
I like both SK and fnatic (let's make that clear). But i think this is just hurting both organistations. They should of handled it in private. Because now both organistations are hurting.
1/Gux agreed to SK contract because he acted like. Legaly he's sk propriety.
2/Fnatic took Gux back. Two ways: Gux broke his contract and will have to pay his fee from himself OR Fnatic will have to pay gux's fee departure.
And here we all can see that Gux is screwed up if fnatic don't want to pay the fee and sk don't want to take him back.
One way or another, it's better for Gux to sign his contract, just to have his salary back.
Fnatic's and Gux's Attitude was bad, but SK was the one that let this matter reach to this.
"From a legal standpoint Rasmus was and is under a running contract with SK Gaming. He negotiated a contract, he confirmed the conditions, and most important, on 3rd May 2010 and after that Rasmus states that the contract and with this one all terms we negotiated are SIGNED at his end, too (as he received a contract that was signed by SK already so he could have one copy for himself to hold SK liable for all claims he is legally entitled to)
This should clarify the question of Rasmus Stahl being a free agent or a contracted player."
This statement does not hold up to legal review under german law. It is in fact irrelevant whether or not the contract lying on Gux' desk was signed or not. Gux made no attempt to send it to SK's place of business which is one of many requirements to form a valid contract, § 130 I S. 1 BGB. Negotiations, confirmation of the conditions and signature do not constitute a legally binding contract by absentees under german contract law. For SK to have a solid case here, the contract must have had reached the mail box of SK's place of business.
It would be possible - see § 311 - to conclude a contract over MSN etc. It is however clear by the logs that both parties had the will to conclude the contract in writing - that means by extension of § 126 a document whether it be toilet paper or cardboard.
1. 8:08:16 PM Tim Ellersiek: sounds decent, I will need the contract via postage since I have to show it to the authorities
2. 8:10:23 PM GuX: i will ask my parents on the marks stuff for germany
3. 8:50:34 PM GuX: tim write here plz and tell me some FAX number where i can send the stuff
4. 5:06:35 PM Tim Ellersiek: any update on sending the contract?
Why are the parties unable to invoke § 147 I S. 2? Because that would create an internal paradox. The legal construction that forbids this kind of behavior is called venire contra factum proprium. The best known example is that you enter a train and at the same time shout: I want no transport contract. This is why § 242 applies. Both parties said they wanted a written contract, § 126 II. They cannot claim in good faith that an oral contract (telephone, msn[!]) is in effect. A contract made over msn is not a written contract in the sense of § 126!
And on a different front: What about the personal rights of Gux which have been violated through the intentional release of personal correspondence by this article?
No problem with law here but a terrible taste will last for long. Downhill...
sk says there was an agreement between gux and sk as an organisation and gux stated that he will sign the contract. this alone would be enough if theres proof of it. in addition to that he played numerous games for sk and integrated himself into the team. NO german court will ever rule over that as "free agent". they immediately smash him because of his clear intent to play for this team. this is all thats needed.
so gux was clearly a contracted player under the german law.
fnatic and gux had 2 easy choices: leave sk and not get payment for gux (wich is his own fault btw...he would have gotten everything if he just sent the damn copy of the contract to sk - thats because in germany you are forbidden, by law, to pay anyone any money (if the person is working for your company) without a signed copy of a labor contract.
second choice would have been to consider him an contracted player and just pay the fee. finished buisness.
that brings the question to mind what the hell fnatic and gux are talking about. they cannot state "gux was ripped off by sk and hes not contracted" when in fact we was "ripped off" because he didnt sign the contract and therefore wasnt allowed to receive payment (BY LAW).
comparison: animal protection activists sue you for not feeding your horse and take it from you on these grounds. problem is: horse does not want to eat but is very hungry and aks for more food.
what the hell man? theres not even a ground for discussion!
ps: not being able to receive payment because of the missing signed copy of the contract does not revoke his contracted status. its only a german tax issue.
you cant have the cake and eat it. even if its a big fat lie.
pss: there can never be any doubt that fnatic started this whole mess when they stated that missing payments were the reason for guxS change of heart. you cant write something like that in a news if you have a nice and clean relation with a company and later on mock them for revealing personal information to proove the opposite just because they bashmelted your face and reputation to the point of no return.
Without having read the actual contract it is however highly likely that german law does not even step in in this matter as Sweden is a member state of the European Union. Therefore the "REGULATION (EC) No 593/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)" is in effect. Article 8 paragraph 2 states that "to the extent that the law applicable to the individual employment contract has not been chosen by the parties, the contract shall be governed by the law of the country in which or, failing that, from which the employee habitually carries out his work in performance of the contract."
My view:
Actually i dont give a shit about the law (even though i still think the court would rule in favour of sk). We all know that Gux played for SK and they would have paid him, if they COULD. This is not about the law, this is about the shitty behaviour of fnatic and Gux.
I especilially agree with this paragraph and it's the reason why i went from liking fnatic to hating these bullshitters.
"There can never be any doubt that fnatic started this whole mess when they stated that missing payments were the reason for guxS change of heart. you cant write something like that in a news if you have a nice and clean relation with a company and later on mock them for revealing personal information to proove the opposite just because they bashmelted your face and reputation to the point of no return."
@GuX - get cancer and die pls
And you're right.. who gives a damn about the law when you can bash each others heads in with clubs - it's so much more fun, especially when there is a large crowd watching and cheering and throwing shit.
2.) They tried once too clear things up calmly and fnatic continued to shit on them with lies and whine.
fuck fnatic, fuck gux
People, who say that it is SK-Gaming fault are being delusional and irrational, cause they lose nothing if Gux does not sign the contract. Who needs the money? I suppose Gux, but he is a Free-Agent ... he works for FREE. In my country they call it "cheap labor", priceless. As for Fnatic. Well, nice announcement and all, but you should have had included that Gux has no tongue, no rational thinking, no legs, no arms and is an idiot, then it would be a bulletproof statement. Fnatic :"Welcome back, our "SPECIAL" friend." 5 months without a payment, is this really happening? Sorry for being sarcastic, but this is just a complete stupidity.
once SK, always SK.
< SK 3
Not only has he lost 7000 Euros of salary but also his 5000$ rightful share of the prizemoney earned. His reputation as a trustable and professional just went down the drain.
fnatic on the other hand gains an incredible player by giving him some pocketchange and proceeds to win GameGune.
Lastly, I think TheSlaSh saw an opportunity to lash out at fnatic in an attempt to ridicule their brand as a whole, and rightfully so by the looks of it. He's probably smiling though: He just saved 7000 euros and topped it off by earning the 5000$ of GuX's prizemoney.
As always in e-sports: The only one to really lose out, is the individual actually playing the game while the organizations profits!