T1 warns fans of threats ahead of League of Legends Worlds 2023 Grand Finals against China's Weibo Gaming

Just days before the anticipated Grand Finals match between T1 vs Weibo Gaming at the League of Legends (LoL) World Championship 2023, the South Korean powerhouse is grappling with threats endangering the safety of the team and their fanbase.

On Thursday evening (16 November), T1 confirmed the discovery of a post on a community platform with threats made about the well-being of the team's fans. The announcement about the matter was made on the team's official X (formerly Twitter) account.

According to T1's post, the organisation promptly filed a police report to ensure the safety of the team's supporters.

T1 also announced plans to take strict legal actions in accordance with Korean law against the alleged perpetrators.

The esports organisation asserted that it would pursue all malicious and illegal actors, utilising evidence garnered from fan reports and internal monitoring systems.

The gravity of the situation also prompted T1 to communicate the incident to Riot Games, the governing body overseeing the Worlds 2023 Grand Finals, which takes place at the Gocheok Dome in Seoul on 19 November.

As the highly anticipated event is expected to draw thousands of fans from across the globe into Seoul, T1 issued a cautionary advisory to all who plan to attend, urging them to exercise heightened vigilance for their safety.

T1 also vowed to collaborate diligently with law enforcement and industry partners to address any potential threats.

T1 no stranger to threats

While the target of hate this time are the T1 fans, the team and its players have also been harassed and threatened before.

In July 2022, LoL G.O.A.T. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the organisation sued a group of people over hateful comments and “unspeakably foul” drawings directed toward the player.

On top of that, in August this year, Faker received death threats from forum posts on DC Inside, which threatened to “harm” the LoL pro with a weapon. This resulted in Riot’s LoL Championship Korea (LCK) strengthening security and police being sent to T1 headquarters.

The threat to Faker’s life came soon after mass stabbing attacks all over South korea, including an incident with 14 wounded in a car and stabbing rampage, in Seongnam City, and a teacher stabbed in Daejeon.

And most recently, according to a report by Naver Sports, T1 took prompt measures and cancelled the team booth event in the recent semifinal match between T1 and JDG in Busan.

In tandem with this, the Busan police escalated their security efforts by deploying additional police forces and detective units to reinforce the security apparatus at the event site.

Simultaneously, Riot Games also heightened inspection of attendees' belongings upon entry to the stadium.

This precaution was taken in response to previous warnings of violent incidents during the last quarterfinals between LNG and T1.

Fortunately, the semifinal match concluded without any unexpected incidents, with T1 winning against Golden Road contenders JD Gaming 3-1.

The Grand Finals match between Weibo Gaming and T1 will be on Sunday (19 November). And if you will be in Seoul to watch the games live, remember to exercise caution and be vigilant to avoid untoward incidents.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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