For a while now, there have been strict rules regarding poaching in place for top-tier leagues in professional League of Legends. It's pretty simple: don't try to recruit a player if they're under contract with another team. The problem has been that these rules have only been enforced within the player's current region, and did not prevent teams from elsewhere in the world from poaching. Now, that issue has been fixed.

Riot's restrictions on player poaching now extend to all top-tier leagues, and all teams, regardless of where they are located. This does not mean that Riot does not want players to change teams or regions; they just want them to abide by their contracts when doing so. This means that players cannot engage in conversations about potentially moving to a different team while still under contract, but they do still have options if they wish to leave. Players' options include:

• Waiting until their contract expires, at which point they can negotiate with any team
• Letting their management know they want to be traded/bought out
• Make a public announcement that any team interested in their services should contact their current team's management. However, the player cannot contact a specific person or team for this purpose.

This is an important step in the anti-poaching policy, and while it's a bit odd it wasn't instituted right off the bat, it's good to see that it's in place now. This serves to protect teams, as well as the integrity of each league. There have been too many cases of poaching already, and hopefully this will help finally put a stop to the practice.