Players of PEA member teams Cloud9, TSM, Immortals, CLG and Team Liquid have signed an open letter that was released by Scott "SirScoots" Smith to protest PEA.

All players of PEA member teams except NRG and compLexity signed an open letter protesting PEA's decision making, in particular to prevent the aforementioned pros from competing in the EPL event. According to the players, despite the promises of transparency during the foundation process, PEA has taken the decision behind closed doors. The players also state that they were promised that they would have authoritative voice in the decisions, which never happened.

One of the main concerns on the players' side is PEA's apparent intention of preventing their members from playing in events that clash with PEA competitions. According to the letter, some of the players had been told that they would have to drop out of ESL Pro League as a result of PEA policies.

Around IEM Oakland, the rumours spread and players' concerns grew and they reached out to Scott "SirScoots" Smiths who they regard as a "trusted friend and mentor". The players stated that they weren't able to make their voice heard by talking directly to the team owners and PEA Commissioner, Jason Katz, so they decided to sign an open letter in order to make the topic known to the community.

Here's an extract from the letter which signifies players' shock when they heard there was a clause on their contracts that prevents them from playing wherever they want.

“So, when the PEA and our owners first spoke more openly about their ability to tell us where we can and can’t play, we asked them what gave them the right. Their response was very direct: It’s in your contracts. This came as a shock.”

While details are not all available, the below suggests there may be more nuance to the issue that was originally presented, and if players have signed contracts stating that PEA have final say on the events they can attend it would move the conversation from 'evil organisation PEA' to 'players fail to read contract before signing'. However, until these details are available, it is worthless to speculate further. You can read the letter in full, which ends with a call to players of NRG and compLexity to sign the letter, on Medium.

Image courtesy of PEA.