After DetonatioN FocusMe top laner Haruki “tol2” Shibata accused the organization of threatening him and ran away from its gaming house as a result on July 6, the org released a statement addressing the situation.
The statement was unveiled on July 7. DFM acknowledged tol2’s accusations and after conducting interviews with three parties involved and confirming the facts, it admitted two coaches, Kazuta “Kazu” Suzuki and Kyohei “Ceros” Yoshida, “made statements that could be interpreted as threats” according to a Google translation.
On top of that, the organization made the decision to fire both Kazu and Ceros with immediate effect.
DFM explained it will strengthen the effort to improve communication within the team. The org also acknowledged tol2 is struggling with mental health. “The situation with tol2 has not improved sufficiently, and he is mentally and physically unwell,” the statement adds.
At the same time, however, it notes that as of May 2023, when tol2 was struggling during MSI 2023, the team wasn’t aware of any disorder. Fortunately, the organization will do it’s best to “prepare a support system not only for the physical condition of the players but also for mental care.”
In the original series of tweets from tol2, he also reported he had told the upper management about the verbal abuse he received from coaches. Tol2 was allegedly met with a fine from DFM’s CEO Nobuyuki Umezaki, alongside a warning that he could be removed from the team.
The organization also addressed these accusations. DFM states the fine of 300,000 yen was indeed given to tol2, but not for speaking about the abuse. It claims it was for breaching his contract in June 2023 by speaking to a third party. The penalty is also set to be lowered, according to a Google translation of the statement.
As a result of the whole situation, the team will hold discussions with tol2, other players, LJL officials, and management. Although the details of these upcoming talks haven’t been specified in the statement.
