Xiang “Alex” Gu releases his version of the LMQ situation

Start / E-sport / Xiang “Alex” Gu releases his version of the LMQ situation

July 29, 2014

In what seems to be a growing chapter of statements and counter statements released by the two parties involved in the dispute between A&K Esports and Tian Ci Ltd, the new manager of Lan Mei Qi (LMQ), Xiang "Alex" Gu has released his version of the events that executive battle between the two parties. His statement can be viewed on his facebook page, or below.

My name is Alex Gu, the player manager of Team LMQ. I am a second year graduate student at USC majoring in electrical engineering. In the last eight months I have spent a lot of time with the players of Team LMQ, and lived in the LMQ gaming house for the majority of the time. I can say that I know some things that the fans may not know. This letter to the fans is a bit long, but I hope that I can offer some truth to this situation.
How I Become Involved with LMQ
When the Team first arrive the U.S., back in December 2013, both Sharon and I offered to help the team as volunteers. After a week, the team manager of that time, Eno, and the representative of Tian Ci, He Yi, told me that they would like for me to take on the player manager position. I really love playing this game and really like the players of LMQ as well, so I immediately said yes. At that time, Eno told me my primary responsibilities are to schedule the team’s scrims, manage the player’s daily activities and etc; Sharon will mostly be responsible for public relations, communications with Riot, and the business aspect of the Team.
The first official competition LMQ participated in was a small competition sponsored by CLG, CLG Camp. Many teams in the challenger league took part in this event. Team LMQ successfully placed first in this event and everyone was ecstatic. However, I felt that Sharon was not so happy that day but I wasn’t sure why. The next day Eno told me that Sharon was unhappy because she felt that everyone knows me and not her. To give some background on this, at that time LMQ was playing ranked 5’s games. To gain more fans, we streamed most of our placement matches. I was also frequently promoting the team by providing team backgrounds in twitch chat. As a result, there were a few fans that knew me at that time. Eno told me, streaming is my responsibility and I was only doing my job. He also wasn’t sure why Sharon is not happy about it. Shortly after, Eno informed me that Sharon came up to him and said that she would like to be the public figure of the team. She wants the fan base to know her and she was not happy that they only recognized me. Eno didn’t want the volunteers to work in an uncomfortable environment, so he came to talk to me and asked for my thoughts on the situation. I never cared much about being in the spotlight, so if she wanted to have more exposure, I don’t mind at all. It also doesn’t hurt to have a girl representing the team as it might attract more fans to the Team.
After that I avoided most situations that needed me to be in the public, and mainly just focused on taking care of the players, managing their daily schedule, being the Team’s tech support and would go purchase the team’s groceries with Sharon. During this period of time, because I spent most of my time in the gaming house the players have become family to me. At that time, we were both volunteers and we were willing to do everything we can for team LMQ even without any salaries. To me, money is not that important, nor is my popularity, all I cared is that LMQ can make it into the LCS.
About the Agency Agreement with A&K
Shortly after we came to the U.S., we met A&K and Lolclass's owner Eric Liao. My first impression of him was that he was a really nice guy and was very hospitable. Later on, perhaps due to his sponsorship with us, he starting becoming closer with Sharon. It wasn't long before they were in a serious relationship. During those times, Eric was very generous to the players. He would frequently invite everyone out to eat or have fun. I learned from others later that part of the reason for this was so he can go after Sharon.
At first I thought they were very compatible, and was happy for them. However, slowly as time went on, I suspected something was going wrong. Eric, as a sponsor, would always come with Sharon to our gaming house. Before this, Sharon used to discuss team operations with me and Tian Ci, but after she started dating Eric, she would often make the decision by herself.
When LMQ was about to qualify for LCS, because Tian Ci was a Chinese company, it couldn't help the players apply for U.S. visa. At the time, everyone in LMQ was very worried, fearing that visa issues would prevent us from entering the LCS. Sharon then suggested that her boyfriend's company A&K can help act as an agency company to help sponsor the player visas. Since time was very tight and we didn't have many other choices, we discussed this with Tian Ci and quickly signed an agency agreement with A&K. The contract clearly stated that A&K shall only act as an agent to help the team sponsor their visa but does not have actual ownership of the team. Once Tian Ci establish their own company in the U.S., A&K will unconditionally transfer the team back to Tian Ci. Of course, the expenses and fees for the visa applications were all paid for by Tian Ci.
LMQ’s Financial Hardship
All of LMQ’s expenses in the U.S. had been taken care of by Tian Ci. In February and March of 2014, we did have a financial crisis; no one was getting paid during that time. In early April, I heard that Tian Ci had resolved their own financial issues and is once again able to wire money over to the Team. Because Sharon had always been the sole manager to the Team’s bank account I asked her multiple times on whether or not Tian Ci had wire money to the Team, she always responded with “this is not something you have the rights to care about”. I was very worried about the players’ expenses being paid for, so finally I contacted He Yi on my own. He told me that, as soon as their financial situation had turn around, they had already wired the money to Sharon, and he showed me all the documentations from the wires. I felt relieved. I also saw that every time Sharon had reported the expenses to He Yi, she always just gave him an estimation of amount, never showed him any receipts or invoices. To this day, Tian Ci had always wired the amount requested by Sharon for the operational needs of the Team. Tian Ci signed the Agency Agreement with A&K on April 10. After that, Sharon continued to ask Tian Ci for operational expenses every month, and every month Tian Ci wired money to Sharon’s account as requested, Tian Ci also made the payment to Sharon for everything that was owed during the financial hardship. I didn’t understand why Sharon would say that A&K terminated the agency agreement with Tian Ci due to the reason that Tian Ci failed to send money to her. This is completely not true! Why would Tian Ci continue to send her money if the agency agreement has been voided!? Sharon had been receiving money all this time, yet she claims that Tian Ci did not send money after the agency agreement was signed. I have to wonder about her true intentions.
A Day to Remember!
In early June, when our new investor and Tian Ci’s He Yi arrived in the U.S. to prepare for the transfer of LMQ. I started seeing signs of A&K’s intent to steal the team, but I still didn’t want to believe it. I felt that there is no way they would be this heartless.
It wasn’t until June 29th, 2014, when a series of shocking and unforgettable events happened, that I finally realized what is happening. Earlier that day, A&K’s representative Aries Gao, came to our new investor’s hotel room and shocked him with a financial report demanding $120,000USD. The new investor was extremely angry at this and rejected the proposal.
Afterwards we went to the LCS Studio. That day we had just beaten Dignitas, so the new investor wanted to take everyone out for dinner to celebrate. Right when we were about to leave, Sharon stormed into the player’s room and screamed at me in front of all the players. How dare you cancel the shuttle to take them to eat without my authorization? She also pointed at me and yelled” Who do you think you are? Are you the manager or am I the manager? What gives you the right? Everything has to go through me!” The players were all dumbfounded seeing this. However, in the end, the new investor and I still took the players to dinner to celebrate.
After dinner that night, we were dropping the players off at front door of the gaming house. Sharon was there and told us that Eric was waiting inside the house and wanted to talk to us, so we went inside. However, after we went into the house, there were two scary looking guys in black shirts waiting for us instead. Eric himself was actually not there, he called us from China and spoke through speaker and proclaimed himself to be the owner of the team in front of everyone. He said, whether the team will be transfer is up to him, the price for the new investor can be negotiable but whether he will actually sell it has to depend on his mood. Throughout this announcement, the 2 tough looking guys were standing by Sharon’s side and kept trying to intimidate and scare us. The new investor wanted me to call the police, but one of the tough guys said, “Don’t even think about it, I will just throw your phone into the swimming pool.” So the investor put the phone back into his pocket. After Eric finished his speech, one of the black shirted guys even called someone that’s not in the house, mentioning that there should be no more problems here, they don’t need anyone else to come. The players were too scared to make a sound and just kept looking at each other. I was scared by what was happening as well. We were very concerned for the safety of our players, and we believed if we stayed at the gaming house to argue with them, then it would cause more unnecessary problems and threaten the safety of the players. So we chose to not confront them and leave the house.
On the way back to the hotel, I finally understood, Sharon, you were like me in the beginning, working as volunteers only for the good of the team. You did help out a lot, but did you felt that you and your boyfriend had the rights to claim the team just because you offered your help to the team? After Sharon started to date the owner of A&K, she always said the team was theirs. No wonder you refuse to admit you had received money, were you trying to pave the way for A&K to forcefully take over the team? I even remember multiple times where she threaten to withdraw the players’ P-1A application and sent players all back to China if we don’t let her manage the team the way she wants.
I never thought it would come to this stage, but finally we had to seek legal protection for the team. We hired our lawyer to resolve this and so, on July 1st, our lawyers issued an official termination notice to A&K’s Aries, Sharon, and Eric. I didn’t know why Sharon would pretend that she was surprised by our announcement last Friday. We issued that statement last Friday because in the past month, since our lawyer’s notice to A&K, A&K refuse to communicate with us. At the beginning of July, we held a three way conversation with A&K and Riot, Riot hoped that we would resolve the issue ourselves through negotiation A&K agree that they will do their best to resolve this issue with us. However when we tried to contact them after the call, they refused to answer our calls and emails, even when they gave us their lawyer’s contact information it was a name and number that was never reachable. We have informed Riot of A&K’s unwillingness to negotiate.
In order to let our players to stay focused on the matches and not to be distracted by such disputes, I’ve been holding back and remaining silent. Also, I was worried about the players’ visa application since Sharon still holds all of the players’ passports. I originally wanted preserve Sharon’s reputation, especially since she was the one who introduced to LMQ and gave me the opportunity to become the player manager. This was until I saw her Facebook statement which contains lots of inaccurate information that could have easily misguided our kind-hearted fans. It even threatens team LMQ’s eligibility to continue playing in the LCS, let alone our players’ dreams to win Worlds in season 4. That’s why I now choose to speak up. I sincerely hope that after reading my letter, our fans have learned more about the truth. Thank you so much for your time and for your continued support of team LMQ.