Sports fans are so toxic that Faker and Gumayusi are taking legal action

Esports is full of passionate fans and players, so you’re bound to encounter heated debates and frustrated takes. In South Korea, there League of Legends esports are so mainstream, that risk has become too much for FANABLE, a representative agency Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok again Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong.

A bit of criticism is expected if the games don’t go the way the fans wanted. But each abuse has increased T1, Hanwha Life Esportsand other popular groups. Now, FANABLE is taking sports fans to task for cruel and abusive statements about their players.

“Recently, in some communities, malicious posts, distribution, and insults directed at our players have continued to rise above acceptable levels, often without any effort to control them. As a result, we have come to the conclusion that it is no longer possible to ignore these actions,” said FANABLE.

“Therefore, we will review and pursue all possible avenues, including civil and criminal legal actions, in response to such conduct.”

Faker, Gumayusi, and other famous players are often the victims of passionate fans who riot when the team is not doing well. But it goes beyond abusive online posts. Fans sent funeral flowers to T1 headquarters to protest after the poor performance. Last year, League of Legends players in South Korea paid to have billboards protesting Gumayusi, who was playing for T1 at the time.

“Those who have been harassing Gumayusi, stalking his family and others, have now raised thousands of dollars to fund billboard protests and LED cell phone ads in the heart of Seoul to harass him even more,” said one Reddit fan.

At this time the fans wanted T1 to do something to protect their players.

“There was a lot of hate speech about the membership after Guma was benched,” commented another fan. “They even reported in large numbers any tweets supporting Guma or talking about him to delete them. For many weeks T1 did nothing about this. I have no hope that they will do anything about this.”

T1 never got up. But now FANABLE has.

Still, it raises questions about the behavior of esports fans. It has always been a very heavy group of people who like to debate and talk. It’s a big part of the culture, with esports organizations themselves participating in the frenzy. G2 Esports hired a plane to fly a banner that read “F*** SENTINELS” during VALORANT’s epic rivalry.

And things like that is something which are funny. The passion and excitement of the esports community and players is what makes it such a special platform. I often talk about the breakdown of FGC, how it’s the players’ pure desire to grind and compete that keeps it all going. That’s what makes esports so attractive and honest.

But that love can manifest in toxic ways if left unchecked. It’s okay to feel upset. It’s okay to discuss what went wrong in the game. But saying hateful things about a player, wishing him bad, getting his address, and putting up funny boards about him… That’s not just lust, that’s abuse and harassment. It’s not a joke anymore.

I’m glad FANABLE stepped in. Riot, T1, and other organizations have been silent for years as death threats continue. Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi called for action against cyberbullying by November 2025, calling Riot and other sports leaders involved. That’s how bad it got.

“Enjoying the team will never be used as a reason to choose a certain player to abuse,” said Jeon.

It’s not clear who exactly is at fault for letting it go on, but it’s liberating to see someone trying to protect the players. Anyway, why threaten the player’s family by losing the game? He took a deep breath. Play a cool game. Meditate. Eat Faker ice cream. It’s not worth it.