Riot Games Oceania has announced that they’ve taken ownership of the Exile5 League of Legends OPL team and appointed it to a third-party to take control of the team until the end of the split. It was revealed that Exile5’s owner, Jonathan Salmon was unfit and not capable of owning the team to Riot Games’ standard with reports of poor management and funding issues.
“Jonathan Salmon, has informed league officials he is not capable of effectively owning a team in the league to our required standards. He wasn’t confident in his ability to meet the operational obligations required of an OPL team.”
In order to keep the team running, Riot Games Oceania stepped in to ensure ‘the health and welfare of the players’ quoting it wasn’t fair that ‘players shouldn’t be punished for the actions of the owner’. The team was also moved into a new house in Pyrmont. Riot Games has also mentioned that accepting tender offers for this slot in the future and will announce when this is available.
The troubled team has been facing issues since the start of the split and with the removal of general manager Jon Dudley and mid-laner Lo “Siuman” Pak Man leaving – signs were beginning to show publicly about issues within the organisation. The team hasn’t been able to pick up a game so far during this split.