Chris Badawi may not be a household name, but he's part owner of the LCS team Team Dragon Knights and Challenger team Renegades (formerly known as Misfits.) He's now been found quite guilty (not just a bit guilty) of attempting to poach players on multiple occasions.

His first transgression centered around AD Carry Yuri "KEITH" Jew, while the player was under contract with Team Liquid. Badawi attempted to recruit KEITH to Misfits, going so far as to discuss salary. When he found out, Liquid owner Steve Arhancet warned Badawi that attempting to recruit players currently under contract with LCS teams was against the rules. Following that incident, Badawi reached out to LCS officials to discuss tampering rules. Whatever information he gained didn't seem to change much for him, as he later reached out to Liquid's top laner Diego "Quas" Ruiz in an attempt to recruit him to misfits, promising him a larger salary than what he was currently getting. Badawi denied allegations that salary was discussed, but LCS officials obtained evidence that this was not truthful.

Due to engaging in multiple acts of player tampering despite being warned and having the rules explained to him, a punishment for Badawi could not be light. Riot Games has determined that he does not meet the bar of professionalism necessary to be an owner of a team in either league, and must replace or resell his stake in the teams' ownership. He is also banned from holding any officially recognized LCS team position (i.e. owner, coach, manager) for the remainder of 2015 and all of 2016.

There are those that might feel this punishment is a bit harsh. However, when an individual willfully breaks the rules and threatens the competitive integrity of the eSport, it's understandable that fairly drastic measures must be taken. This is highly unfortunate, as partnering with Badawi was one of the main reasons Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykkles gave for wishing to be part of the Renegades brand. The hope is that this will not affect the players, and the teams will be able to continue on unhindered.

With the multiple documented cases of player poaching/tampering resulting in the perpetrators being caught and punished, it seems odd that there are still those who believe they are above the rules and/or will not be caught. Hopefully this will reinforce the idea that this behavior is not acceptable, and will dissuade others from attempting similar action in the future.