The Du “Monet” Peng – LGD Gaming drama is far from being over. Through the entire day, on this Monday, both parties exchanged strong words over Weibo, up to the point where the General Manager Pan Fei decided to make public all the screenshots of his chats with his player and with the Royal Never Give Up (RNG) owner, mister Xin Bai.

Monet rushed to tell his side of the whole story and you can find below the English translation of his post done by our translator Yuhui Zhu:

“Hello, I’m Monet.

I feel obligated to clarify something after reading the statement posted by LGD. First of all, LGD wrote and I quote ‘On October 1st, 2017, both parties (Monet and the club) signed a player contract which will expire on October 1st, 2020. Since the commencement of the contract, the club has fully fulfilled its contractual obligations.’ I find this part inconsistent with the facts.

I joined LGD in 2016 and signed my first contract with the club in September 2016. They did not include this part in their statement because the first contract includes certain LGD ‘s obligations to the player which they failed to carry out during the period of 2016.11- 2017.10. Thus the so-called “fully fulfilled its contractual obligations” is inconsistent with the facts. During that period, I wasn’t even covered by basic protection. Moreover, I didn’t know about all these even after the commencement of our second contract. It wasn’t until 2 months ago that I found out by myself. That was the first time I found LGD’s management untrustworthy.

At the beginning of this year, I spoke to the management and requested a pay raise, because my salary is at the lowest tier in LGD. They agreed readily, but it’s been more than half a year and the pay raise never happened, that increased my distrust to the management of LGD.

EHOME contacted me after TI and I communicated with them for a few days. At that time, I felt as though everything was about to be finalized but thereafter, EHOME did not contact me for almost a month, which made me feel that the opportunity was lost. It was one of the most difficult time for me then. Thereafter, RNG approached me and told me about their plans for their future Dota 2 team. Overall, I felt that they were reliable. However, upon speaking to Fei about my intention to join RNG, his reply was that I can join them on loan for half a year. After half a year, I have to return to the team unconditionally. How am I supposed to play if I qualify for a tournament and I’m forced to return to my team when the time is up? When I contacted the relevant personnel from EHOME and RNG, I abided by the contract and communicated via LGD’s proxy. However, my trust in LGD was broken immediately.

With regards to the training aspect, LGD followed up by saying that they wanted to create a team around me. However, LGD didn’t manage to get any of the players I wanted. As I am only in their secondary team, and in the new season only one team per organization can qualify for TI. If I actually make it into TI, I will also be sold to other clubs by LGD.

Even at the end, I also indicated to the club through formal channels that we can continue to determine the method of cancellation and follow-up through consultation. It is by no means a unilateral notice. However, LGD decided to make a post on Weibo directly? If that’s the case, I am willing to pay the stated penalty fee for the breach of contract. Let’s terminate the contract according to its terms.

It’s true that I communicated with Xiao8 before and it was unfortunate that the deal fell through. I believe that he went to quarrel with LGD’s management, hoping to acquire me. I have personally expressed my sincere apologies to Xiao8 and I would like to use this chance to apologize to him again! In the end, we failed to reach an agreement with EHOME. I guess it is just not meant to be.”

After Monet posted his version on Weibo, the LGD Gaming General manager Fei Pan open up on his Weibo account and shared all the screenshots of his conversations with Monet and the RNG owner, which are in full contradiction of what Monet said.

“I was really taught a lesson during this period of time. I never thought that people in this scene can be that complicated. I just want to clarify two things:

1. I kept asking about Monet’s intentions after RNG’s owner made it clear to me that they will not have Monet on loan. I wanted to build a decent team around him or, for his career development, loan him to a good team. But Monet lied to me and told me that he can stay, that’s why I just lost it when I received the Notice of Termination from him.

2. I was trying to negotiate with other clubs these days to get the roster Monet wanted, but I failed. And then he told me that the reason he left is because of the roster. I wonder what kind of roster does RNG have that attracts Monet so much?”

Fei actually shared his conversations in which the RNG owner is declining the loan offer for Monet which seems to have been for 1 year, not six months as Monet claims in his post.

Fei: So, What do you say? I can’t make it on Monday because I’ll be in Hubei for my driving license test, you can go to our company though, there will be somebody there and we can sign the contract.

RNG: So should we send someone to your company?

Fei: Yeah, Monet on loan for one year plus the transfer of Ahfu. 2 contracts, I will let them finalize the contracts first and send them to you.

RNG: We don’t want to have Monet on loan.

Fei: What do you mean? So you only want to buy Ahfu?

RNG: We only want Ahfu

Fei: Okay

RNG: Okay

Fei has also posted the conversation which he had with Monet immediately after he learnt that RNG don’t want to have him on a loan agreement.

Fei: The owner of RNG just told me that they don’t want to have you on loan, what’s your plan?

Fei: Do you want to stay? Or do you want to go to VG.

Monet: Both are fine

Monet: I’m playing Dota right now

Fei: Ok, give me a call when you finish.

Fei: Just want to have a chat.

Monet: OKOK

Monet: Done

Fei: Voice Call

Fei: Send me a message when you wake up.

Monet: I’m up

Fei: Voice Chat

Fei: Are you in Hangzhou？

Fei: Let’s meet tomorrow and have a meal together, I’m leaving for Hangzhou tonight.

Monet: No, I’m not in Hangzhou.

Fei: You are in Shanghai?

Fei: Ahfu wants to leave.

Monet: I’m in Shanghai.

Fei: So have you thought it through?

Fei: Do you want to stay in LFY?

Fei: I’ve got some acquaintances in SEA.

Fei: But you are not really familiar with them.

Monet: To be honest

Monet: I don’t want to play.

Fei: Be responsible to yourself. If you don’t want to play here I can go talk to VG.

Fei: I’m not forcing you to stay here.

Fei: I don’t want you to blame me if your talent gets wasted.

Monet: What does VG have now?

Fei: My point being, if you want to stay in LFY, I’m confident that this team will achieve something, because the roster looks decent to me. But if you don’t believe in this roster or my judgement, I’m fine with sending you to another team… I don’t know what VG has for now, I’ll go check.

Monet: I can’t stay, I want to play with other teams.

Fei: Then why did you tell me that you are fine with both staying and playing in another team 2 days ago

Fei: That’s pretty irresponsible of you, not only to me, but also to yourself.

Fei: They have Ori, Yang, LaNm and Fade

Fei: Doesn’t VG have your favorite players: Ori and Fade?

Fei: Still not interested?

Fei: As far as I know, VG is the only Chinese squad that has a better lineup than us.

Fei: Are you in the team-house?

Fei: Let’s meet and get some midnight supper together.

Monet: I’m hanging out with friends

Fei: When will you be free?

Fei: Maybe tomorrow?

Monet: I’m going home tonight.

Fei: I was having midnight supper with Yao last night.

Fei: We were talking about you.

Fei: We really want to finalize this matter.

Fei: Don’t want to see you not making it to the team you want to join.

Fei: Be responsible to yourself

Fei: What do you think?

Monet: I don’t want to stay in LFY, not interested in going to VG either.

Fei: Where do you want to go?

Fei: What is that?

Fei: If you have something in mind, why can’t you just tell me directly?

Monet: The salary here is not really good, and I’m not really satisfied with the roster either. Plus, there are some promises that you failed to fulfill.

In response to all these chats, LGD received Monet’s written request to have his contract prematurely closed, citing that RNG will be willing to represent him in all the negotiations that might occur.

The letter is a request to end his contractual agreements prematurely and it looks like this:

“Notice of Termination

Hangzhou Aijidi Culture and Creative Co., Ltd.,

I, Du Peng, signed the Professional Esports Player Contract (the Contract) with Hangzhou Aijidi Culture and Creative Co., Ltd. (your company) on October 1, 2017.

According to article 4.11, “When Party A’s skills and popularity reach a certain stage, with the written consent from Party B, Party A is entitled to transfer freely to another club. Moreover, Party A has the right to require Party B to recommend him to a top-class club. Party B will be the authorized representative of Party A for transfer negotiation. Party A is entitled to the full amount of signing fee and Party B the full amount of transfer fee.”

Due to the fact that I now intend to transfer to another club but that the request has been denied by your company, I am now sending this Notice of Termination to your company to officially terminate the Contract .

Notice is hereby given.

Signature: 杜鹏

2018-9-4

The very next day LGD Gaming sent an official notice to Monet to remind him that he didn’t fulfill his contractual agreements and therefore he can’t request to be released.

Dear Mr. Du Peng,

Hangzhou Aijidi Culture and Creative Co., Ltd. (our company) signed the Professional Esports Player Contract (the Contract) with you on October 1, 2017. In the said contract, we agreed on the matters of our cooperation.

During the term of the Contract, you sent a notice of termination on September 4, 2018 to our company and our replies to your demand for termination are as follows:

Our company has been fulfilling our contract obligations proactively since the commencement of the Contract by providing training and publicity. We wish that you could also comply with the agreements stated in the Contract.

Your transfer requires the written consent from our company. In consideration of your long-term career development and the interests of both parties, we think that transfer is not the best option for you currently. Instead, loaning benefits your career development more. Therefore, our company has been negotiating proactively with several other parties regarding your loaning.

Our company finds that your unilateral termination of the Contract has no contractual or legal basis. If you insist on doing so, you shall be liable for the breach of the Contract.

Our company wishes to maintain sound cooperation with you for win-win results.

Hangzhou Aijidi Culture and Creative Co., Ltd.

September 5, 2018.

Monet didn’t stop and sent another letter to the LGD offices threatening the organization that he will follow all the legal steps in order to find justice.

Hangzhou Aijidi culture and creative Co., Ltd:

On 4 September, 2018, I, Du Peng, issued to Hangzhou Aijidi culture and creative Co., Ltd (your company) a ‘Notice of Termination’ to the contract “Professional Esports Player Contract” (the Contract) which was signed on 1 October, 2017.

According to article 5 of the Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China : “The parties shall adhere to the principle of fairness in deciding their respective rights and obligations.”; Art 9: “In entering into a contract, the parties shall have appropriate capacities for civil rights and civil acts.”. Obviously, the background of the contract is seriously inconsistent with the aforementioned legal provisions. I have not reached the legal age when I signed the contract with your company, meaning that I did not have the appropriate capacities of entering into a contract with civil rights and civil acts. The said contract is obviously unfair and gives your company only the benefits without any contractual responsibility.

In consideration of the reputation of your company in this industry, I’m willing to negotiate with your company regarding the related terms after the termination of the Contract, working jointly to reach a consensus. If your company refuse to negotiate, I will apply to People’s court for the cancellation of this Contract in accordance with Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China article 54:A party shall have the right to request the people’s court or an arbitration institution to modify or revoke the following contracts: (2) those that are obviously unfair at the time when concluding the contract.

Notice is hereby given.

杜鹏

LGD Gaming issued their official statement from Monday, September 10, 2018 after all these documents were being taking into consideration. As of now, Monet is bound to LGD by contractual agreements, and although he wishes to end his contract without any repercussions, LGD said in their statement that “LFY.Monet’s unilateral termination of the contract has no factual or legal basis. It is clearly a disregard of the spirit of contract and a violation of contractual obligations and industry rules. It does not only cause a negative impact on his personal career development but also damages the interest of the club and public images of both the club and players. As such, we hope that Monet could keep his professionalism, contact the team proactively and return to the team. Hangzhou Aijidi culture and creative Co., Ltd and LGD Gaming reserve the right to pursue legal action for the breach of contract.”

*Disclaimer: VPEsports is a Washington State based esports news media company funded by VPGame.

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