NLC Div 1 champions Lionscreed kicked out of the league for not paying players and staff
It’s a rough time for the Northern LoL Championship
It’s a rough time for Northern LoL Championship, as its top team has been kicked out for not paying players and staff.
The Northern LoL Championship has announced the removal of Lionscreed from the NLC Division 1. The reasons given are "not meeting its financial obligations towards players and staff for an extended period in spring" and "Lionscreed was given a deadline of Sunday, June 2, to resolve the issues, but failed to do so".
Lionscreed had a star-studded lineup for the standards of a non-accredited European Regional League. 3 of them were imports from outside Europe: jungler Yohan & midlaner Tempt from South Korea, and botlaner Jinjo from Australia. All 5 players were former NLC champions with EMEA Masters experience, in addition to other achievements. Most notably:
- Midlaner Tempt is a LCK veteran with 8 splits played, as well as a CK champion & a DDH (Mexico) champion
- Support Kasing is a EU LCS/LEC veteran with 8 splits played, as well as a LVP SuperLiga (Spain) champion. He also has a a Worlds appearance (2015)
On the 24th of May, the NLC informed the other Division 1 teams about the situation. On the same day, the situation was made public by Korean retired coach Eunko, who posted about it on X (Twitter).
The Division 1 spot of Lionscreed has been given to Finnish organization BlueWhites, which won the NLC Division 2 2024 Spring Split.
There have been no announcements regarding the future of Lionscreed Academy (4 Nations Division 1) or Lionscreed Lionesses (4 Nations Division 2).
NLC staff provided me with information that they are considering 3 possibilities on what will happen with BlueWhites’ former spot in Division 2:
One of the Regional Promotion Series teams (highly likely one of the semifinalists, Bitfix Gaming or PARAGON) will get the spot
One of the relegated teams from the spring split, Karolinerna or G2 Hel, will get the spot
No team will get the spot, and Division 2 will take place with only 9 teams for the 2024 Summer Split
The final decision is expected to be made by Friday.
Sources:
NLC’s Post on x.com
Lionscreed’s Post on x.com
Eunko’s Post on x.com