Geposted von spawnYzn,
Aus diesen Unterlagen und dem Statement des Vorsitzenden des Aufsichtsrates der Ninjas in Pyjamas AB, Hicham Chahine, wird zumindest im Falle des MLG Preisgeldes ein wenig Licht ins Dunkel gebracht. Scheinbar gab es auf Seiten der MLG tatsächlich Verzögerungen in der Auszahlung des Preisgeldes, die durch einige Missverständnisse beim Austausch der nötigen Unterlagen zur Steuerabrechnung zustande kamen. Erst nach dem Einschalten eines auf Steuerrechts spezialisierten Anwaltes aus Schweden und der erneuten Rücksprache mit der amerikanischen Steuerbehörde IRS, konnte diese aus der Welt geräumt und letztendlich das Preisgeld überwiesen werden.
Mit einem kleinen Seitenhieb in Richtung von Richard Lewis forderte man ihn auf besser zu recherchieren und stellte seine angebliche Rücksprache mit der MLG zu diesem Thema in Frage. Ebenfalls seien auf Seiten von NiP keinerlei Anfragen von Richard Lewis zu den Anschuldigungen eingegangen und man wünsche sich in Zukunft eine Überprüfung der Fakten bevor man solche Vorwürfe äußere.
Neben dem angesprochenen Preisgeld der MLG sei laut NiP die Zahlung von Gfinity erst Ende Oktober eingegangen und werde entsprechend mit dem nächsten Gehalt an die Spieler ausgezahlt. Was das Preisgeld von FACEIT angeht, so habe man dieses "kürzlich" erhalten und es sei geplant auch dieses demnächst auszuzahlen. Was die Events der ESL betrifft, Katowice und Köln, so seien die Fälligkeitstermine noch nicht erreicht. So bald das Geld nach dem Ablauf der Termine überwiesen wird, erhalten auch dies die Spieler.
Über alle Auszahlungen und den dazugehörigen Terminen seien die Spieler in Kenntnis gesetzt und es gebe hier keinerlei Unregelmäßigkeiten. Das betrifft auch die Erlöse der Einnahmen aus den Stickerverkäufen. Diese werden, ebenso wie die eingenommenen Preisgelder, gesammelt und im besten Interesse der Spieler ausgezahlt, im Einklang mit dem schwedischen Steuerrecht.
Zum Ende des Statements wird dann aber noch ein Punkt angesprochen, der Rätsel aufgibt. So widerspricht die Organisation direkt Joona 'natu' Leppänen, ehemaliger Coach der Ninjas in Pyjamas, zu seinen Aussagen bezüglich der vereinbarten und nicht ausreichend geleisteten Streamingstunden an, mit der damit einhergehenden Zurückhaltung der Auszahlung von Preisgeldern. Man wisse zwar zu schätzen das sich natu mehr einbringen und der Organisation ein wenig Last abnehmen wollte, indem er bei der Planung und Umsetzung von Preisgeldauszahlungen und dem Verfolgen der geleisteten Streamingstunden einen Part übernimmt, doch dies sei erst nach der Entscheidung geschehen, das man sich von ihm trenne.
All dies erweckt den Eindruck, der ehemalige Coach des Teams wäre Richard Lewis Quelle zu den Anschuldigungen, obwohl er kein einziges Mal im Original Artikel des Journalisten genannt oder zitiert wurde. Außerdem wird natu von Seitens der schwedischen Organisation vorgeworfen, er hätte durch unzureichende Einsicht in die internen Strukturen und Abläufe falsche Angaben gemacht und das Verhältnis zu den Spielern sei entgegen aller Äußerungen sehr gut. So lange Richard Lewis seine Quelle nicht offen legt, oder natu sich selbst äußert, ist unbekannt wer nun genau die Informationen zum vermeintlichen Preisgelddisput ausgeplaudert hat.
Zuletzt schließt der CEO Per Lilliefelth mit einem kurzen Fazit das Statement ab, in dem er darauf hinweist, dass sie im schnellsten wachsenden Geschäftsfeld derzeit tätig sind und von der Geschwindigkeit in der die eSport-Industrie expandiert überwältigt. Sicherlich ist NiP nicht perfekt und auch nicht immer pünktlich, aber sie arbeiten hart und tun alles für ihre Spieler und die Organisation. Ninjas in Pyjamas sei stets daran sich zu verbessern und weiterhin dazu zu lernen, außerdem werde alles dafür getan eine möglichst pünktliche Bezahlung der Spieler zu gewährleisten.
Auch einer der Spieler, Adam 'friberg' Friberg, spricht in einem Tweet über die Angelegenheit. Zu den angegebenen Zahlungsverzögerung äußerte er sich nur indirekt, betont aber, das seit der Übernahme des neuen Investors alle erspielten Preisgelder und Gehälter immer gezahlt worden.
FYI: Since Diglife joined forces with NiP we've always recieved all the prize money & salaries that we earned.
— Adam Friberg (@fribergCS) 4. November 2015On November 3rd 2015 Richard Lewis published an article claiming that the players in Ninjas in Pyjamas are owed a significant amount of money by the organisation from prize money, stickers money and deferred salaries. As a response to the claims Chairman of the board in Ninjas in Pyjamas Gaming AB, Hicham Chahine, have released a statement regarding the rumours.
”As a member of the board in Ninjas in Pyjamas Gaming AB, it is our primary duty to assure everything is in order at our company. As a result of this we have over the past 24 hours conducted some internal checks to bring clarity to the claims. In addition to the internal checks carried out, we have had a close dialogue with our players whom do not recognize the rumours set forth in the article. The result of our checks is that Richard Lewis has published an article based on misinformation where he has drawn his own incorrect conclusions. As a result of this we would like to address the claims, Transparency is important at Ninjas in Pyjamas, and as our fans should expect from us, we will also release internal documentation with our response. I also kindly request Richard Lewis to do his research properly before releasing such claims towards any individual or organisation in the future.”
Through his article Richard Lewis claims that he has been in touch with MLG where he states they have confirmed that NIP has delayed submission of tax information with regards to the prize money post their tournament, MLG X-Games Aspen. The claims regarding this are incorrect.
After the tournament in Aspen, NIP CEO Per Lilliefelth, contacted MLG to submit all information to get the prize money settled. This was done on the 3rd of March. The response from MLG was relatively slow where they kept requesting documents that are not needed for the payout of the money as NIP has a US tax identification number. After discussions MLG confirmed everything was in order and the necessary documentation was provided. The money was however not paid out and NIP had to engage a tax lawyer at Mazars in Sweden to get the prize money paid out from MLG. During this process MLG acknowledged the error on their end in June. The money finally arrived early July and was paid to the players the same month. As a result of the delayed prize money, the team decided to pull out of the Cevo-7 LAN themselves. We have attached the e-mail correspondence with MLG, Per Lilliefelth and our lawyer to this statement.
Internal matters such as payouts to our players are not normally commented on. In this case however, we find it necessary to give clarity to the claims with consent from our players. Hicham Chahine has the following to say regarding payouts: ”The prize money from Gfinity Champions of Champions arrived towards the end of October and will be paid with their next salaries. The prize money from Faceit is also scheduled to be paid out to the players as it has recently been received. We would also like to note that the amounts from ESL One Cologne and ESL Dubai have been invoiced but not yet been paid out by ESL as the invoices are not due. Payments will be done as soon as we have received the money post due date. We would also like to preface that our players are fully informed about the scheduled payouts of their prize and stickers money and there is nothing unusual. We continue to collect winnings and pay out in the best interest of our players and in accordance to Swedish tax regulations”.
We would also like to address the claims regarding streaming hours. The claims set forth by Joona ”Natu” Leppänen surrounding withholding payments as a result of streaming hours not being met is inaccurate. We have a close dialogue with our players surrounding streaming hours and there has not been any disagreements on how this has been handled. Assured, both Ninjas in Pyjamas and Twitch have an accurate tracking of streaming hours for each individual player. We appreciate the job Natu did at NIP as coach for our players. This position did however not give him sufficient insight to how we internally handle tracking of streaming hours, executing of payments on prize money, stickers money and salaries. Further to this we appreciated Natu´s offering to take a larger part of the daily running of the business. Unfortunately the offering was
done post the CS:GO team decision to part ways with him. We did therefore not find it ideal for him to take larger part in our business operations at NIP.
Per Lilliefelth comments: ”We are working in the fastest growing business in the world and are overwhelmed by the speed of expansion in the industry. Of course, we aren’t perfect and have not always been on time, but we work hard and try to do our best at all times for our players and NIP. We are constantly improving as we grow and learn along the way. Rest assured, our players are our main priority and we do our utmost to be as punctual as possible in the payments.”
Finally neither Ninjas in Pyjamas or Per Lilliefelth have received any request for information or comment from Richard Lewis as stated in the article. If you have any questions regarding Ninjas in Pyjamas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@nip.gl. GO NINJAS!
”As a member of the board in Ninjas in Pyjamas Gaming AB, it is our primary duty to assure everything is in order at our company. As a result of this we have over the past 24 hours conducted some internal checks to bring clarity to the claims. In addition to the internal checks carried out, we have had a close dialogue with our players whom do not recognize the rumours set forth in the article. The result of our checks is that Richard Lewis has published an article based on misinformation where he has drawn his own incorrect conclusions. As a result of this we would like to address the claims, Transparency is important at Ninjas in Pyjamas, and as our fans should expect from us, we will also release internal documentation with our response. I also kindly request Richard Lewis to do his research properly before releasing such claims towards any individual or organisation in the future.”
Through his article Richard Lewis claims that he has been in touch with MLG where he states they have confirmed that NIP has delayed submission of tax information with regards to the prize money post their tournament, MLG X-Games Aspen. The claims regarding this are incorrect.
After the tournament in Aspen, NIP CEO Per Lilliefelth, contacted MLG to submit all information to get the prize money settled. This was done on the 3rd of March. The response from MLG was relatively slow where they kept requesting documents that are not needed for the payout of the money as NIP has a US tax identification number. After discussions MLG confirmed everything was in order and the necessary documentation was provided. The money was however not paid out and NIP had to engage a tax lawyer at Mazars in Sweden to get the prize money paid out from MLG. During this process MLG acknowledged the error on their end in June. The money finally arrived early July and was paid to the players the same month. As a result of the delayed prize money, the team decided to pull out of the Cevo-7 LAN themselves. We have attached the e-mail correspondence with MLG, Per Lilliefelth and our lawyer to this statement.
Internal matters such as payouts to our players are not normally commented on. In this case however, we find it necessary to give clarity to the claims with consent from our players. Hicham Chahine has the following to say regarding payouts: ”The prize money from Gfinity Champions of Champions arrived towards the end of October and will be paid with their next salaries. The prize money from Faceit is also scheduled to be paid out to the players as it has recently been received. We would also like to note that the amounts from ESL One Cologne and ESL Dubai have been invoiced but not yet been paid out by ESL as the invoices are not due. Payments will be done as soon as we have received the money post due date. We would also like to preface that our players are fully informed about the scheduled payouts of their prize and stickers money and there is nothing unusual. We continue to collect winnings and pay out in the best interest of our players and in accordance to Swedish tax regulations”.
We would also like to address the claims regarding streaming hours. The claims set forth by Joona ”Natu” Leppänen surrounding withholding payments as a result of streaming hours not being met is inaccurate. We have a close dialogue with our players surrounding streaming hours and there has not been any disagreements on how this has been handled. Assured, both Ninjas in Pyjamas and Twitch have an accurate tracking of streaming hours for each individual player. We appreciate the job Natu did at NIP as coach for our players. This position did however not give him sufficient insight to how we internally handle tracking of streaming hours, executing of payments on prize money, stickers money and salaries. Further to this we appreciated Natu´s offering to take a larger part of the daily running of the business. Unfortunately the offering was
done post the CS:GO team decision to part ways with him. We did therefore not find it ideal for him to take larger part in our business operations at NIP.
Per Lilliefelth comments: ”We are working in the fastest growing business in the world and are overwhelmed by the speed of expansion in the industry. Of course, we aren’t perfect and have not always been on time, but we work hard and try to do our best at all times for our players and NIP. We are constantly improving as we grow and learn along the way. Rest assured, our players are our main priority and we do our utmost to be as punctual as possible in the payments.”
Finally neither Ninjas in Pyjamas or Per Lilliefelth have received any request for information or comment from Richard Lewis as stated in the article. If you have any questions regarding Ninjas in Pyjamas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@nip.gl. GO NINJAS!
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