T1 finally speaks out on Zeus controversy

T1 issued a statement today, July 23, shedding light on the sudden departure of Zeus from its League of Legends roster last year.

“First, I fully acknowledge that the initial offer made to The Play (Zeus’ agency) and Zeus during the transfer negotiations could have felt less than respectful from the player’s perspective,” Josh Ahn, T1’s COO, said in the statement released on YouTube. 

He added that Zeus wanted to “prioritize” his original team and had a “genuine desire” to stick with the T1 League roster.

Ahn apologized for sharing “inaccurate information” on the matter and admitted that their handling of the situation after Zeus left T1 has been sub-optimal. The team is now setting the record straight with a statement to stop the spread of misinformation. 

Ahn said T1 had reasons to believe that a mutual agreement with Zeus and The Play had been reached, but Hanwha Life Esports had a last-minute offer to Zeus. While The Play communicated to T1 that the counteroffer had a deadline, Ahn said that during their call with HLE, they were given the impression that no such deadline existed. This ultimately led to a misunderstanding between T1 and The Play.

T1 acknowledged that the complications surrounding Zeus’ transfer stemmed from a “lack of careful internal communication” within the organization. The team also called on fans to refrain from criticizing Zeus and his family.

After Zeus left for HLE, T1 scrambled for top laner options before the trade window closed. The team eventually secured the services of Doran.

Although T1 hasn’t won any titles with Doran so far, they did achieve a runner-up finish at MSI 2025. In contrast, HLE, featuring Zeus, won First Stand, the first international League tournament of the year.