KeSPA Cup returns after a three-year hiatus alongside controversy: “They’re taking the players ‘hostage’ for the 2026 Asian Games”

The KeSPA Cup is a League of Legends annual tournament organized by the Korea e-Sports Association. All the LCK 2024 Summer teams will be part of the official lineup as well as two overseas invited teams with an all-star roaster: one from China Taipei (TPE) and another from Vietnam.

The 2024 KeSPA Cup will run from November 30 until December 8. This is an off-season event exclusively broadcasted on Naver Chijijik (a platform created after Twitch's closure in Korea) and through the Korea e-Sports Association YouTube channel. The winning team takes ₩40,000,000 (approximately, $29k) home, the second ₩20,000,000 ($14.3k) and the third ₩10,000,000 ($7k).

We'll have 12 teams participating in the tournament, some you might recognize from bigger tournaments such as LoL Worlds 2024. From the LCK 2024 Summer, we'll see BNK FearX, Dplus KIA, DRX, Gen.G, Hanwha Life, KT ROlster, Kwangdong Freecs, NS RedForce, OX BRION and T1.

The return of the KeSPA Cup was announced this week, but some fans were not quite thrilled by it. A user on the League of Legends Reddit commented that many Koreans are not happy with the "unfriendly schedule for Worlds-participating teams - Hawnha Life, Gen.G, Dplus KIA, and T1 - that can potentially burn out the players as well as the organization taking players "hostages" by assuring them if they don't play in the cup, they won't be considered for the 2026 Asian Games.

If you're not aware: "conscription in South Korea has existed since 1957 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 to perform compulsory military service. Women are not required to perform military service, but they may voluntarily join the military". This means that every Korean player has to comply with their military service (that can be between 21 to 24 months), with some exceptions.

"South Korea's military grants benefits to athletes and artists for outstanding feats in their respective fields, including the military service exemption for those who win a gold medal in the Asian Games and a medal of any color in the Olympics", according to The Korean Herald. This means that esports players can have an exemption from military service (or comply with a smaller one, just like T1's Keria is doing him for one month).

Many Korean fans argue that the KeSPA Cup organization is trying to profit off the success of the LCK teams while holding the chance for the Asia Games on the line. Some Korean news reports are even reporting about this matter of KeSPA Cup being used as an indicator for Asian Games selection. Other fans took the chance to clarify that the selection won't be made exclusively based on the KeSPA Cup.

Questioned about this matter, the organization replied: "We'll try our best to confirm the dates with LCK, but we think a certain degree of sacrifice is necessary to be part of the national team. However, since the schedules of the KeSPA Cup aren't that long, we think it's more than possible to participate. We'll continue to speak with each team and LCK to ensure the problem is minimized".

Many fans expressed their concern for T1. The Korean team won the LoL Worlds 2024 on the second day of the month and will be part of the KeSPA Cup, besides having to be, a week later, in France for the Redbull League of Its Own event. "It's just the usual greed from corporations sadly", commented a user.

In the same post, another user commented that "players and organizations in a lot of smaller esports would love to participate in more tournaments but they are unable to", saying that it's totally fair that "performance in a tournament impacts the decision whether you are going to represent your country in the future".

He added: "Participating in more tournaments means being able to win more prize pool, but also more watched hours which can be used by teams to attract better sponsorship deals which can increase the player's salary. So participating in more tournaments also benefits the players".

However, in the matter of players' burnout and mental health, the opinions were on the same side: "Burnout for players is a real issue, so teams might need to consider skipping certain tournaments and leagues to protect the mental and even physical well-being of their players".

Some fans accused Riot of making a "too busy schedule" that makes it impossible for teams to skip out "without destroying your opportunity to play in their international tournaments".

On day one, November 30, we'll see the first group stage play in best-of-one (Bo1) matches. Remember that the certain only hour is the first game. The other matches will be depending on the duration of the previous matches.

That's all for now. Stick around for more news and updates on esports.gg.