Canna and T1 have a controversy raging with both sides telling their side of things.
It has been known for a while that Canna’s days in T1 were over. From all rumors, it was certain that Canna was going to be on another team next year. However, details have come out with organizations answering back to make the situation murkier. Here is what we know.
Statement from Canna’s Agent
As the offseason progressed, it was clear that Canna was set to join Nongshim RedForce. However, details came out that he was unhappy with how things have gone and the agency that represented him put out a statement. The statement was given to Inven Global and can be found here. To summarize what was said, Canna’s Agent iterated that Canna had a verbal agreement with the late COO of T1, John Kim. The agreement was that Canna would be released to Free Agency if they did not find a new agreement with the team for 2022.
It was pretty clear that was not going to happen, thus Canna expected to be a free agent. However, with his passing, the verbal agreement was not upheld and Canna was still set to be either on T1 or be traded to another team. T1 and Canna could not come to terms so T1 decided to trade him. The agency was allowed to talk with other teams to expedite the process through which Canna came in contact with “Team D: (DK most likely).
However, T1 had already made an agreement with Team N (Nongshim RedForce), and the trade was being finalized. According to the agent, despite DK offering a bigger offer for Canna, T1 still went to finalize a deal with NS, which was half of what DK offered. Thus, the agent sent proper requests to the LCK where the LCK has sided with the agents for that time being.
This is the side of Canna’s story regarding the controversy.
Statement from T1
Fast forwarding to about an hour later, Polt, the General Manager of T1, did a press conference to tell T1’s side of the tale. His main points were about the verbal agreement being unverifiable, Canna constantly asking about being FA, and the final decision is in T1’s hands for transfers. The verbal agreement was between the previous COO of T1, who did pass away so that the verbal agreement cannot be proven. Thus, Canna was not released to FA and if it was verifiable, T1 would have done so and released Canna.
Secondly, the team did not come to terms with Canna about the salary so T1 does not have to release him to FA. Canna also asked about FA to multiple staff including Polt thus T1 started the transfer process. For the transfer process itself, the agency for Canna was allowed to talk to teams but T1 had the final say on which team to transfer him to.
Regarding “Team D”, Polt said that Canna’s agency was talking to DK from November 19th, the day the Nuguri news came out. Before that, they had already been talking to NS and made a deal with them to finish the transfer on that very day. They also said that the LCK did not do their due diligence on checking both sides of the facts. T1 maintains their position of violating no rules and upholding the player’s rights and giving him favorable conditions.
Confirmation From Nongshim RedForce
Soon after T1’s announcement, NS came out on Instagram with a statement. This backed up their side of the offer laying out what their offer is in relation to Canna’s previous contract.
The three points are translated as follows:
- NS reached an agreement with T1 on the evening of November 19th
- The initial offer from us were 1.5 times the offer the other team made
- According to the rules, we offered 1.8 times of the original salary of Canna on November 20th.
They also added that no rules were broken from the LCK rule set. Thus, they were pushing forward with negotiating a deal.
Takeaways From The Statements
There are a few takeaways from the statements of all parties relevant to the controversy.
- Canna feels he was betrayed when not being made FA
- T1 remains resolute in their position of doing it right by the player
- Nongshim’s side made a proper offer.
Other than the three points above, there are some inconsistencies especially between T1 and the agency. There is some misinformation being spread, and it’s unclear which side it is on. LCK does have a rule where T1 does have the final say irrespective of the player’s choices. Thus, no rules were violated by the transfer.
LCK did come out and say that they have fully investigated the situation, and we hope that does happen. Things are too muddy right now, but it is clear that one side or the other is embellishing the truth. Thus, it is in the best interest for the LCK to investigate and mediate the situation.
That’s all we know about the situation and more updates will be put in if there are any more developments.
