GM wants players to give up 50% of CGS winnings to get drafted

The Championship Gaming Series qualifier and draft in Singapore is likely to go down as the most controversial draft in the league this year. Chris Soh, the general manager for Singapore, has allegedly suggested that players give his company 50% of their winnings if they wanted to get drafted.

The controversy surrounds the selection of Cindy, the runner up in the Dead or Alive 4 female qualifier, and XtC, the runner up for CS: Source. Cindy was beaten 10-2 in the final by Lavelynne and according to the players that were at the event, did not use holds. XtC lost to The Titans 10-4 and 10-5 in the tournament.

The team that was drafted for the Singapore franchise is comprised of Xtreme (FIFA 07), Phenic and Takumi (Project Gotham Racing 3), Tetra (DoA4 male), Cindy (DoA4 female) and XtC (Counter-Strike: Source).

The Titans are the best Counter-Strike team in Singapore and a constant fixture when it comes to representing the country at international events. They qualified for the World Cyber Games in 2005, in 2007 and for the Electronic Sports World Cup in 2007 as well. The official reason for The Titans not getting picked was “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

The Titans, and some of the other participants of the draft, have a different story to tell about this.

“He has cited unsportsmanlike conduct,” says Paramajothi “StrykerX” Prasad, The Titans’ captain and owner, “but I would love for him to find ANY team from here to the US/Euroupe that has met us and believes we act in an unprofessional manner.”

Chris Soh’s company, the Singapore Gamers’ Association, has got a sponsorship program under which players commit to give 50% of their winnings back to SGGA.

According to StrykerX, Soh approached gamers at the draft and strongly hinted that pro gamers should give back to the gaming community and mentioned the program. We have confirmed this with other players that were in the draft, including those that made the cut.

“He didn’t offer it directly,” says StrykerX. “He strongly implied it and we knew that if he became GM we wouldn’t be getting a fair deal EVEN if we did get drafted. It was a VERY big hint. Every top gamer [was] getting the same message. We can’t all be wrong, now can we?”

The players decided to collectively take up the matter with Steven Yong, who was at the qualifier on behalf of the CGS, to have Soh removed from the position of a GM.

“[Yong] had a hands off approach saying he has no idea about this, that its none of his business,” says The Titans captain, “and that it was up to the GM to run the team. I felt that was really unprofessional considering the integrity of a CGS franchise was at stake.”

According to StrykerX, Soh found out about it and let several players know about his displeasure with The Titans captain in particular. What followed was that team XtC were drafted over The Titans, despite the fact even they admitted that they did not deserve to be picked based on skills alone and that they are “much puzzled as to why [they] were chosen instead.”

Both XtC and Cindy, the girl that finished second in the qualifier and drafted for DoA4, are involved with the SGGA, Soh’s company. In the case of XtC, the sponsorship that they had with SGGA was offered to The Titans two months ago, before CGS China. When it was turned down, SGGA approached XtC.

In other games, no player involved with Soh’s organization finished high enough to be taken into account during the draft. Still, some of the players that were drafted admit that they are concerned that they may be asked to sign a contract with the SGGA.

“I believe [Soh] will ask us to do that sooner or later. He was not able to do that at the draft because the CGS director was there,” says one of them. “It is a good guess that if I don’t sign the contract, I’ll be forced to give up my spot for ‘unsportsmanlike behavior.’”

The draftees have not signed contracts with the Championship Gaming Series yet. During the drafted players conference, it was “strongly hinted” that the current Singapore team was not confirmed and that the players that have not made the cut initially were still up for consideration. The players are afraid that if they do not play by the GM’s rules, they will be replaced by a more compliant successor.

“[The Titans] feel we did not get drafted because we weren’t going to agree to [Soh's] ‘Give Back to the Community’ idea,” says StrykerX. “We think its a novel idea to give back to the community but there are MANY other ways to nurture talent than to simply throw money.”

It is interesting that even players that are now on the team would rather see Chris Soh ousted from his position. We have yet to see what the Championship Gaming Series will say about this.

“I think [the CGS] should naturally conduct an investigation and LISTEN to the people that truly matter,” finishes StrykerX. “The GAMERS and members of the community who support gaming. No one knows what happened like the gamers… it’s our word against his. There is no smoke without a fire.”

Naturally, the league cannot be found culpable should Chris Soh indeed be guilty of what the players say. But what also needs to be considered is that the situation would never have arisen if the CGS drafting system had been based on gaming skill and real merit, without the possibility for General Managers to pick whomever they pleased.

[Editor's Note:] By the time of the publication we were unable to get in touch with General Manager Chris Soh or a Championship Gaming Series spokesperson to find out what they have to say about the issue. We will update the article as soon as we do so.