Elite League Season 1 & 2 organisers did not pay prize money to teams

The manager of Team Waska from Peru, Mateus "Cysne" Cysne, has expressed his frustrations regarding the tournament operator ESB, the organiser of the Elite League series, over the non-payment of prize money.

"It’s disheartening to participate in two tournaments with a prize pool of one million dollars, only to receive an email stating, 'Sorry, we have no money; our sponsors haven’t paid us.' This refers to Elite League and Elite League Season 2."

Subsequently, a snippet of the email in question surfaced online, stating that due to sponsor issues, ESB has frozen the Elite League tournament series. The tournament operator, however, intends to fulfil its obligations to the teams by the end of the year through the pursuit of alternative funding sources.

For context, the first season of the Elite League, featuring a prize pool of $960,000, took place online from 31 March to 14 April. The second tournament was held in Peru from 25 July to 4 August, with an $800,000 prize pool.