What happened?
Hans Sama Is Reportedly Being Sued by His Former Agency
Many European fans were thrilled to hear that the french ADC was returning to Europe after spending some time in NA with Team Liquid. However, the botlaner now finds himself in a bit of a pickle as he is being sued by his former agency.
Steven "Hans Sama" Liv is mainly known for his time in Team Liquid and the European team Rogue, now known as KOI. Before heading to North America, Steven had made quite a name for himself in the LEC but never made it entirely to the top and has a lot of second places under his belt.
When he moved over to Team Liquid, many fans expected TL to be the new North American superteam and be the hope for the LCS on the international scene. Yet, the TL did not live up to their expectations and even failed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship 2022.
Now it looks like Hans Sama is facing other issues, as he is reportedly being sued by his former agency, the French organization Athletes Representation & Consulting (ARC). This report comes from Jacob Wolf from The Jacob Wolf Report.
ARC Suing Hans Sama Over Alleged Breach of Contract
According to Wolf, ARC is suing Liv for alleged breach of contract by signing with a competing agency, Proxy, and not playing commissions while still under a representation agreement.
The time ARC refers to is Hans Sama's move from Rogue to Team Liquid in November 2021. Nearing the end of the 2021 season, ARC had been discussing with Rogue about selling Hans Sama's contract to a North American team before it expired in 2022.
Rogue and ARC initialized the discussion by meeting with Cloud9, who were interested in the buyout and even up for negotiating a new salary with Steven. According to Wolf's sources, ARC did also meet with Team Liquid at that time.
However, Hans Sama did allegedly not want to play with Cloud9, and while ARC had started the discussion with Team Liquid, the competitor agency finalized Hans' new deal despite his already existing contract with ARC to represent him exclusively.
When asked about the upcoming lawsuit, ARC's legal counsel provided The Jacob Wolf Report with a comment saying they confirmed the dispute with Hans Sama and had to say this about the situation:
As we were unable to reach an amicable agreement with Steven, we were forced to bring the matter before a civil court for an independent third party to assess the situation. It is nothing personal, and we trust Steven feels the same way. As the case is ongoing, we do not intend to communicate further to preserve Steven's or ARC's image.
Looking towards the upcoming season, Has Sama has confirmed his departure from Team Liquid since they are looking for an almost complete rebuild of the former "super team." Liv is now set to join the European star team, G2 Esports, where he will be reunited with his former support, Mikyx.
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