Image: BLEED Esports
BLEED Esports face allegations of non-payment to its multiple teams competing in Counter-Strike 2, Rainbow Six Siege, and more.
Singapore-based organisation BLEED Esports is in hot water after its European Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) roster cut ties with the organisation over allegations of non-payment of salaries, tournament prize money, and contract buyouts that also extended to its other divisions in Dota 2, VALORANT, and Rainbow Six Siege (R6).
The allegations of non-payment to BLEED's CS2 team were put forward by now-former head coach Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović in a post on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday (October 10). The now-former BLEED CS2 roster will also be competing as “UNPAID” in the RES Regional Champions and Thunderpick World Championship 2024.
Kassad said in his post that the team's salary payments have been delayed by up to four months, with players only receiving their first salary in April this year despite having signed their contracts with BLEED back in December last year. BLEED notably signed Kassad in December 2023 to be the head coach of their CS2 team while also being responsible for assembling the roster.
Aside from salaries, Kassad alleged that buyout fees, bootcamp expenses, and other payments have not yet been paid by BLEED.
BLEED responded to Kassad's initial allegations by claiming that its roster "has been paid through August with September in processing" and denied claims of communicational issues between them an the organization.
"BLEED has been in constant conversation directly with the team on all outstanding matters brought forward," BLEED added in its statement.
Kassad then followed up by allegedly detailing the amount of money left unpaid by BLEED to multiple parties. These included 130,000 to Norwegian organisation Apeks for the acquisitions of Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad and Tim "nawwk" Jonasson; 42,000 to German organisation G2 Esports for the acquisition of Nemanja "nexa" Isaković; 15,000 to Josef "faveN" Baumann; 15,000 to Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov; 10,000 to Vladan "VLDN" Radević; 20,000 to Kassad himself, and over 100,000 in prize money won by the team during its tenure. Kassad did not state if the amount of money unpaid was in US$ or SG$ currency.
Kassad's public allegations of non-payment notably come after BLEED was removed from the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific League due to the organisation's failure to comply with critical requirements and obligations as a partner team. Sources have told GosuGamers that BLEED's removal from the VCT Pacific League was also due to alleged non-payments to its VALORANT team.
Players from BLEED's other teams have also come forward to air out their own concerns over the organisation's non-payment. R6 player Taylor "Terdsta" Ching alleged that BLEED owes him over $35,000. Terdsta also alleged that BLEED CEO Mervyn Goh En Wei has disappeared following BLEED's removal from the VCT Pacific League.
Kassad also said that players from BLEED's Dota 2 roster, which has been inactive since June, reached out to him with similar concerns. Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman, who briefly played with BLEED's Dota 2 roster earlier this year, notably came forward and alleged that the organisation has yet to fully pay him for his services.
“Due to the latest news and developments inside the BLEED organisation, we have decided to take things publicly. After months of attempting to resolve our internal issues privately, we feel compelled to share what has transpired and is still ongoing. BLEED's upper management team has consistently ignored our concerns, leaving us no choice but to go public and cut all ties with them,” said Kassad.
“They've repeatedly lied about payments, made empty promises, and kept us hoping things will get better. Most of the time we've been completely ignored by management – radio silence on their end. We're currently consulting with our legal team to determine our next steps and move things forward.”
