Team Huma owner Behdad Jaafarian has been temporarily suspended for several months from Riot Games and League of Legends events, sources close to the team and Jaafarian tell ESPN.
Jaafarian refuted these claims when asked for comment, but has stated differently in multiple conversation logs between him and other League of Legends industry associates.
This suspension is forcing Jaafarian to sell his spot in the 2017 Spring Challenger Series, as his organization announced on Twitter on Aug. 15:
Huma has decided to part ways with League of Legends for the time being. This has resulted in our EUCS spot being up for sale.
- HUMA (@TeamHumaGG) August 15, 2016
If true, this will not be the first time Riot Games has taken disciplinary action against Jaafarian. The Riot Games European esports team issued a formal warning to Jaafarian in March after an investigation into his team's finances and management style following a report by the Daily Dot, which exposed allegations of mismanagement and late payments to the team's players.
While the current misconduct that led to the suspension has not been confirmed by Riot Games, sources close to the players and management say Jaafarian and his organization are behind on some payments to multiple players and managers. The total of outstanding debt is currently unknown.
Riot Games declined to comment on this report at this time.