Shadow joins GodLike Esports without consulting TSM, team says

TSM India has claimed that former player Arjun “Shadow” Mandhalkar joined GodLike Esports with neither of them consulting the Ajeet Lalwani-led organization. Lalwani described the situation as “wild”, adding that Shadow was still contracted to TSM.

“You want to know how WILD esports is in India right now? A team just announced a new player for their BGMI (PUBG Mobile) starting roster, that is still contracted to TSM, without talking to TSM,” Lalwani wrote on Twitter while adding that he was “speechless”.

GodLike poaches Shadow, TSM says

TSM has alleged GodLIke of illegally poaching Shadow. GodLike coach Abhijeet Andhare has since taken to Twitter to criticize TSM, challenging them to take legal action if they think GodLike was in the wrong.

“You want to know how childish esports is in india right now? A organisation is crying all over the internet instead of taking proper legal recourse,” Andhare said.

TSM director Jeff “SuiJeneris” Chau then earlier claimed that Shadow was being used by GodLike. He shared screenshots on Twitter of a conversation between Shadow and the team.

The screenshots show that TSM offered Shadow the chance to be loaned for free, to which Chau claimed that Shadow misunderstood it as “being released for free”. Chau then said that GodLike had harmed both Shadow and TSM for tampering with the player.

“Feel bad for Shadow as it seems he is being used…? He just wants to play LAN,” Chau said.

“Poaching/tampering is a dangerous and dishonest practice—it harms players, orgs, and turns good fans on each other.”

GodLike Esports Chetan “Kronten” Chandgude has since released an official statement regarding the allegation. He claimed that TSM just wanted to make GodLike and Shadow look bad to lower their reputation.

Kronten further claimed that his team acquired Shadow legally, saying that there was no contract that prevented the player from joining the organization. Kronten then criticized TSM for harassing his team, saying that he would file a lawsuit against his rival.

“We, at GodLike, followed all the legal and ethical procedures while engaging with Shadow, as he was not bound by any agreement in existence. However, Shadow’s erstwhile organisation started defaming Shadow as well as GodLike by releasing his personal chats on social media platforms, which is a violation of privacy and punishable under Indian law,” Kronten said.

“As Indians, we would now definitely like to teach such elements some Indian ethics and law.”

Moving out to avoid toxic environment

Earlier, Shadow said on social media that he left his former team due to its toxic nature. Shadow breached a contract by signing with his GodLike. He claimed did so because he was “exploited, harassed and insulted” by his former team.

“I have now decided to be a fighter in real life as well, by quitting toxic relations with certain companies/organisations, formed with intent to exploit esports players and fanbase,” Shadow said in a statement released on his Instagram account.

“I have decided to challenge the boundaries, which are based on exploitation, harassment and threat as I don’t want to put bad example for you all by being exploited, harassed and insulted.”

Many fans of BGMI have shown their support for Shadow. Shadow then again took to Instagram to respond to his fans. He said that he “dedicated 100% of my mind, body and spirit to esports”, adding that he was “nothing” without his fans.