Unpaid, Unanswered — From Promotion to Expulsion: The 6GPA Story in Prime League 2

While financial disputes are not uncommon in esports ecosystems that remain structurally fragile, the story of 6 German Professional Athletes (6GPA) stands out as particularly unusual. Promoted to Prime League 2 at the end of the summer of 2025, the organization ultimately evolved into what sources describe as an operation accused of serious misconduct. The situation culminated in the League of Legends team’s expulsion in the middle of the season, a decision announced by new league organizers — whose identity has not been announced yet — on Tuesday, March 4th.

As is often the case in esports, unpaid or delayed wages lie at the center of the dispute. According to multiple sources who spoke to Sheep Esports, 6GPA currently owes at least €7,150 in outstanding payments to people who have worked with the organization, either currently or in the past, since October 2025. Some have reportedly struggled to pay rent, experienced periods of intense stress, relied on financial support from their families, or taken on part-time work to cover basic living expenses.

The situation first came to light during the Fall 2025 split of Prime League 2, the organization’s first appearance at that level. From the outset, according to reports, the team’s management struggled to complete its roster due to a lack of response from the club’s CEO, Batin “Cani” Malkoc. According to our sources, Malkoc seemingly persuaded the club’s whole management staff—Head Coach Bourekda "AkaRyu" Abdelhai, Assistant Coach Houssem "Hainell" Gracha and Managers Georgia "Qyomi" Tsompanopoulou and Xirio—to work without formal contracts.

Nevertheless, 6GPA and the staff had reached a verbal agreement regarding a paid offer made by the club, a proposal later reviewed by Sheep Esports for the purposes of this article. On the players’ side, four pros competed during that split, with contracts covering the period from October to December 2025. The issue is that payments—contractual or verbally agreed—never arrived according to our sources.

The only player to have been paid is the team’s substitute AD Carry, Dogukan "Dreilix” Kartop. “I was asking for an upfront payment because earlier in the year, I was scammed by a different organization from the second division, and the owner was also following the league, so he knew about it as well. He then agreed,” Dreilix told Sheep Esports.

For all the other team members, Malkoc initially asked for additional time, repeatedly pushing back deadlines and first citing PayPal issues. The CEO later justified the delays by claiming he had not yet received the prize money from the CineLeague 2025 tournament — Dreilix, too, has not received the sums owed for the tournament. Shortly afterward, PayPal was again said to have stopped functioning. As the situation dragged on and the months passed, the 2026 Winter Split of Prime League 2 eventually had to begin.

Having learned of the previous payment delays, the new players joining the roster insisted that the matter had to be resolved before agreeing to compete in the split. 6GPA therefore seemingly promised its new members— during a call— that all outstanding payments from Fall 2025 would be settled on January 12th, the day of the team’s first match.

According to our sources, the club also initially did not intend to provide contracts to the new management staff or the new players for the Winter Split. Once again, the organization’s leadership managed to convince the majority of the team’s members—including the coaching staff and two players—to work solely based on a verbal agreement. “And I shouldn't tell coach about it”, a player said. Three players, however, proved less willing to accept these conditions.

To secure written guarantees, the trio threatened not to play during the opening week of the competition unless they received formal contracts. At least one of the three players involved in the matter ultimately received his agreement—covering the period from January 12th to the end of March—only 45 minutes before the team’s first match began. According to the document, 6GPA was expected to pay their first salaries on February 12th.

On January 13th, the day after the contracts were signed, Malkoc had already informed the team’s management that he would leave the slot to the players. In the same call, he reiterates his intention to pay the players for Fall 2025, except the toplaner, Melik "Kaylem" Erdogan, “because he thinks he made chaos, and Kaylem started asking for salaries”, a source explained.

While the club’s leadership initially continued to provide various explanations for the delays, communication effectively ceased by the end of January, and messages from players and staff members went unanswered. Faced with this situation, the affected parties turned to the organizers of the Prime League 2 in an attempt to resolve the dispute. According to our sources, Cani did respond to the league’s tournament organizers, despite communication being described as difficult, with delayed replies that could take several days or even up to a week.

Yet the situation continued to deteriorate.

Although 6GPA eventually agreed to pay, during a call on February 9, some of the players from the Fall 2025 roster, the organization ultimately shifted to a defensive—and then offensive—position. The club accused two other players of violating a contractual rule and argued that this justified withholding their salaries. In one case, 6GPA alleged that the player had represented another team in a tournament. Per sources, however, the organization had explicitly verbally authorized the player to do so. In the second case, per several sources, no specific contractual rule was ever identified.

For the Winter Split, 6GPA also refused to pay team members who were not under contract—after having persuaded them not to sign one in the first place. At the end of this call, the Prime League once again spoke with the players, who expressed doubts about Malkoc’s willingness to honor his payment commitments.

Nine days later, on February 18th, the competition organizer therefore requested a payment plan from Malkoc in order to increase the pressure on him. While Cani initially stated that he would provide the requested plan, the PRM followed up again on February 26th without receiving any response. Failing that, the team’s expulsion was made official on March 4th. And ultimately, even the individuals whom the organization had agreed to pay—both for the Fall and Winter periods—have still not received any compensation.

In addition to being expelled from Prime League 2, 6GPA was also removed the same day — albeit unintentionally — from VALORANT Challengers DACH. “6GPA no longer fulfills the mandatory requirement of maintaining a valid legal entity in order to participate in Challengers DACH,” the TO wrote in the press release. In other words, the absence of a registered legal entity raises questions about 6GPA’s ability to issue contracts, suggesting that the agreements signed with players may not be legally enforceable.

While this lack of legal status cost 6GPA its place in VALORANT Challengers DACH, it is not actually an issue for competing in Prime League 2, which does not require clubs to pay players. The rulebook does, however, stipulate that organizations must honor the commitments made to their players—bootcamps, equipment, or other forms of support—and therefore any financial compensation that may have been promised.

6GPA violated league regulations (Rule 3.6.8) by failing to honor its commitments, independently of the absence of a legal entity. As a result, its official team status within the Prime League network was revoked, and the slot was returned to the players and staff, as is the case in the lower tiers of the PRM circuit, which consists of eight divisions. The roster is currently competing under the banner SixSeven while seeking an organization to represent, particularly with a potential promotion to the first division in mind.

Sheep Esports attempted to contact Batin Malkoc on Discord on March 11th to ask for comments on the several accusations or a general statement, without receiving a response to date. The 6GPA CEO was also notified of the article’s close publication on Tuesday, March 24th, but has once again not responded as of now.