​ North American organization Iceberg Esports has failed to pay owed salary to its Counter-Strike and Dota 2 rosters since late January, the coach and players of the Counter-Strike roster allege. They told DBLTAP the organization owes a total of $13,475 CAD (about $10,460). Additionally, the Dota 2 roster has allegedly never been paid since signing with Iceberg at the end of January.





The CS:GO team originally trialed for the organization during the previous Mountain Dew League season and signed in December. Per the signed contracts, which DBLTAP has reviewed, each player was set to earn $1,000 CAD per month and the coach $650 CAD per month. Following the acquisition, only two payments were received: one half of what was owed from December and one half of January, the players and coach say.





Multiple conversations transpired between the players and owner Daniel “Daname” Escott in which they were told that the organization had lost investors. According to transcripts of the conversations supplied to DBLTAP, Daname promised payments would come after adding new sponsors. Those conversations occurred directly after Iceberg signed the aforementioned Dota 2 roster, which some players believe was an attempt to attract additional sponsors.





Days later, CS:GO manager Shelby “d1sfugured” Parks told the team that the organization would become insolvent if it couldn’t acquire new sponsorship. Shortly after that, according to the transcripts, the players were informed they would be bought out at the end of February by an unknown organization and the outstanding salaries would be paid. By the end of the month, player Warren "hades" Rettich was told that the players would not be receiving payment, a comment he posted in a Discord channel that was corroborated by the team's other players. All members of the Counter-Strike roster were removed from the team Discord channel and blocked on Twitter by the Iceberg Esports account.





In a conversation via Twitter with Iceberg Esports, an account claimed to be run by social media manager “Izzy M,” the organization gave the following statement:





“We'll be making a public statement in a few days, but we dispute both the amount owed and the resolution. We told all players they would be compensated, and anything to the contrary is either an intentional or accidental misrepresentation of what was said.”





Asked a follow-up about blocking the players on social media, Iceberg responded with the following statement:





“They were being threatening and harassing staff. It was a protective measure. They have all been unblocked on social media now.”





Pressed about the nature of the threats and harassment that led to blocking the players on social media, the organization said: “We are not looking to start drama, and would rather protect the players from repercussions that could prevent them from being signed by future org.”





It is unclear if CS:GO and Dota 2 players were blocked on Twitter, or just the CS:GO team. Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, a part of the Iceberg Esports Dota 2 roster, ​tweeted Thursday to announce the players were no longer a part of Iceberg Esports.

We're no longer under contract with iceberg. Back to animal planet — Aui 2000 (@Aui_2000) March 1, 2018

The rest of the Dota 2 roster consisted of Ravindu "ritsu" Kodippili, Jonathan "bryle" De Guia, David "MoonMeander" Tan and Kartik "kitrak" Rathi.