update SINGAPORE--A fiery buzz is starting to brew in the island-state's cybergames scene as local players cry foul over the Singapore leg of the qualifiers for the Championship Gaming Series (CGS).
Allegations are abound regarding the final selection for the Singapore CGS team. Chris Soh, the newly appointed manager of the team, has been accused of choosing less qualified competitors--instead of the qualifying round winners--for monetary gains, reported local news daily The Straits Times today.
According to the news report, Soh is also alleged to have approached players prior to the competition urging gamers who wished to be chosen for the CGS national team to join the Singapore Gamers Association (SGA), a non-profit organization in which Soh is the founder and president.
(Editor's note: Since the publication of this article, Soh has been stripped of his role as manager of the Singapore CGS team and replaced by veteran gamer Steven Yong. "Following the controversy surrounding last week’s CGS Singapore Qualifier and Draft [rounds], and after conducting a detailed investigation with all parties concerned, CGS and Chris Soh have mutually agreed that he will no longer serve as acting general manager of the Singapore team," according to a media statement released by Aurli Bokovza, a public relations representative from the CGS office in El Segundo, Calif., United States. "The league regrets any inconvenience which may have been caused. The best interests of the games community remain the league's top priority.")
The national team will participate in the Pan-Asia CGS competition, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next month. The top four teams at this regional event will have the opportunity to turn professional and receive an annual payment of US$30,000 per person to compete internationally, said the report.
Under SGA's terms, contracted players would have to pay "50 percent of all prize money as received from all approved events and tournaments".
According to the local press, Soh dismissed talk of a conflict of interest, and said there was no connection between joining the SGA and getting selected for the CGS national team.
He added that players drafted to the CGS national team need not be the best gamers, but require "a combination of skills, sportsmanship and how well the players carry themselves on TV".
However, Reuben Conceicao, a member of Team Titans, the champion team who was passed over in the selection, disagreed.
"We didn't get drafted because we didn't agree to 'donate' 50 percent of our salaries and future prize money to the GM's (Soh's) organization, the SGA," he said, under the moniker of Kidon0 in the CGS forum. He added that Titans' non-selection was "because of 'unsportsmanlike conduct'".
The Titans beat XTC, the team that was eventually selected, twice in the tournament by margins of 10-4 and 10-5.
"[Soh] will only pick you if there are no alternative candidates or if you accept his 'donation' terms," Conceicao added, noting XTC is "one of the teams belonging to SGGA".
Soh is reported to be currently serving his notice as a manager with the country's ICT regulator, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).
Singapore aims to establish itself as a games hub in the Asia-Pacific region, and is looking to build a pool of local and foreign talent.
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