Spark Release Krystal After Indefinite Suspension

After controversial events that took place last season, the Hangzhou Spark have announced that Cai “Krystal” Shilong has officially been removed from their roster. The news broke late Thursday evening on social media via a statement.

Spark Communications pic.twitter.com/NAMxVnQyra

— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) June 19, 2020

The post did not go into detail about how the situation has unfolded since the public last heard about it, but it does mention how the team is dealing with legal matters. Reviews Editor at RPGFan and York University Esports Overwatch team manager, Nathan Lee, responded to the Spark’s tweet with the backstory.

After Hangzhou tried repeatedly to get through to Krystal, they issued an ultimatum saying that if he doesn’t respond to them, he will be suspended from the team and his contract will be voided. Krystal still did not respond.
And now he’s been officially dropped.

— Nathan Lee (@Smashking27) June 19, 2020

Near the end of the 2019 season, Hangzhou and Krystal were involved in some troubling matters as Krystal was allegedly not in contact in with the team during his leave of absence to China. The issues escalated to the point where it went public as the Spark posted the happenings on Twitter for anyone to see.

pic.twitter.com/9rznpsnY1l

— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) July 25, 2019

Former TGH writer and current OWL feature writer Darby Joyce reported on the situation with the following:

“Late in the season, Krystal and his team were embroiled in a public dispute over Krystal’s return to China and alleged lack of contact with the Spark organization. As of August, he was suspended “indefinitely” from the team, leaving few expectations that he would return to the active roster in 2020.”

Krystal was not announced on the official roster during the team’s 2020 reveal, but as Joyce states in the same article, “Overwatch League’s official report on contract statuses listed Krystal as still under contract”. With this tweet, the contract situation has officially been resolved and Krystal is now off the team.

In terms of Krystal as a pro Overwatch player, not much is known about whether he will be seen back in the league on a different team. This series of events does allow him to sign with a team if he so chooses to do so. TGH will continue to monitor the situation and update if anything else is revealed.

The Hangzhou Spark are back in action this weekend against the Excelsior and the Charge.

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Featured Image Courtesy of the Hangzhou Spark

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