Blacklist International cuts ties with Lunatix amid team mishandling reports

MANILA, Philippines — Blacklist International has terminated its partnership with Malaysian esports organization Team Lunatix a day after mismanagement reports of Blacklist Lunatix, both organizations' Mobile Legends Bang Bang Development League (MDL) team, surfaced online.

"After going through an internal investigation, Blacklist International has decided to terminate our partnership with the Lunatix organization, effective immediately. We will also be taking over the management of the MDL team from today until the end of the season," Blacklist International said in a statement posted online.

Spin.ph broke the news after the MDL team's manager Eviann Balquin revealed that Lunatix had not fulfilled its end of the partnership — paying for the players' salaries and providing for food expenses.

There had been a time that they did receive funds from the Malaysian organization, but it only amounted to P2,500 that Balquin was supposed to budget for the team's food expenses for an entire month.

Fearing for the welfare of the players, Balquin and the rest of the team's management reported their issues with MDL's operations team as well as to Moonton, Mobile Legends Bang Bang's developer.

MDL Philippines has also released a statement on the ongoing issue.

"We are aware of the situation concerning Blacklist Lunatix, and are currently investigating this issue. All teams are encouraged to prioritize player welfare to ensure that they are given the best platform to pursue professional esports growth. MDL Philippines is a development league that seeks to provide a safe space and opportunity for players to thrive, and are reaching out to the affected parties accordingly." said the league's statement.

This isn't the first time that Team Lunatix had been under fire for the mishandling of their Mobile Legends Bang Bang team. 

At the beginning of the current Malaysian professional league, Team Lunatix came under fire after Myanmar imports Hein “Kid” Thu and Kyaw “Zippy” Bo and Myanmar coach "DJ" quietly left Malaysia.

Team Lunatix had posted the three's departure, stating that they had given the players allowance in advance and that the players still left Malaysia without informing management, stating that the three were not happy with Malaysian culture and cuisine. 

Player Kyaw "Zippy" Bo released a statement of his own, saying that he and his teammates left because of the mishandling of Team Lunatix with regards to reimbursing them for their travel expenses, as well as for failing to provide housing facilities that were stated in their contracts.

The Malaysian league had conducted their own investigation, resulting in sanctions for the two players and Team Lunatix. The two players must honor their obligations and cannot represent any other team during the time stated in their contract while Team Lunatix was sanctioned to immediately pay the entirety of both players' contracts as well as travel expenses incurred.