**TL;DR:** LFL (Ligue Française de League of Legends) 1st Division Team, Gentle Mates, was found to have directly approached a player while he was under contract with LEC team, Team BDS, without permission from Team BDS. Having admitted to the offense and showing remorse, the sanction was mitigated accordingly. As a result, Team Gentle Mates will receive a warning and a monetary fine.
**CONTEXT**
In January 2024, Riot became aware of a potential breach of the team continuity protection rule by Team Gentle Mates from the LFL (Ligue Française de League of Legends) 1st Division. Once Riot Games was made aware of the situation, an investigation was initiated and disciplinary proceedings were opened against Team Gentle Mates for comments.
Team Gentle Mates admitted to their wrongdoing, having directly contacted the player. All parties involved were cooperative with the proceedings.
**RULING**
Team Gentle Mates has violated 17.2.11 of the ERL rulebook and will receive a warning and a monetary fine.
**RELEVANT RULES**
[ERL Rulebook][1]
17.2.11
"*No Team Manager/Member or Affiliate of a Team may solicit, lure, or make an offer of employment to any official Coach or Player who is signed to any League Team, nor encourage any such Coach or Player to breach or otherwise terminate a contract with said League Team. A Coach or Player may not solicit a Team to violate this rule. A Coach or Player may express publicly their desire to leave the Team and encourage any and all interested parties to contact their Manager. But the Coach or Player may not entice a Team directly to reach out to their Team Manager or attempt to violate their contractual obligations. Violations of this rule shall be subject to penalties, at the discretion of League Officials. To inquire about the status of a Coach or Player from another Team, Team Managers must contact a Team Manager of the Team that the Player and/or Coach is currently contracted with. The inquiring Team must provide visibility to League Officials before being able to discuss the contract with a Player. Contracts for Players can be found in the Global Contract Database.*”
[1]: https://cmsassets.rgpub.io/sanity/files/dsfx7636/news_live/a927f6dadcec69599321388a16886544f29889d1.pdf
