Honda has announced it has terminated its multi-year partnership with esports organisation Team Liquid over an offensive tweet by one of its players.
Lucas “DiasLucas” Dias joined Liquid’s Rainbow Six Siege roster just under a month ago but in that time has cost the organisation one of its biggest sponsorships and been fined four months worth of wages as punishment.
Team Liquid had been sponsored by Honda since 2019 and expanded that partnership in 2022 to sell the naming rights to the organisation’s League of Legends teams, including the starting roster who became the first-ever LTA champions earlier this year.
However, that six-year partnership will not be renewed because of a now-deleted tweet, in which the 23-year-old Brazilian posted a GIF of the Hiroshima atomic bombing following a loss to Japanese team CAG Osaka at the Rainbow Six RE:L0:AD LAN event in Brazil.
Dias quickly deleted the post and issued a public apology, saying: “Hey everyone. I want to sincerely apologise for the post I made after our last loss.
“I made a big mistake using that GIF, and I understand that it may have caused discomfort to many people. From the bottom of my heart it was never my intention to make any offensive reference, but I recognise that the context and choice were inappropriate.
“I’ve apologised directly to the CAG players and will continue to reflect on my mistake so I can grow from it. I’m committed to learning more, being more thoughtful in my actions, and behaving more responsibly going forward.”
However, the apology wasn’t enough as Japanese car manufacturer Honda has since released an official statement confirming the end of the Team Liquid partnership and says that Dias’ behaviour clashes with the company’s philosophy:
“Honda took this matter extremely seriously and, as a sponsor company, promptly lodged a severe protest with the team and the player in question. In response, the team apologised, removed the offending post, and implemented measures to prevent recurrence.
“After much consideration, AHM has decided to terminate its sponsorship agreement with the team in question, deeming the conduct to be incompatible with Honda corporate values and unacceptable.”
In response, Team Liquid have released a statement confirming Dias won’t be fired, stating: We believe that individuals who show a willingness to learn from their mistakes deserve the opportunity to improve themselves.”
His substantial fine will be donated to a yet-to-be confirmed charitable organisation as will the entire R6 roster’s $12k (£9k) earnings from the RE:L0:AD tournament.
Team Liquid will also put all their players and coaches from every game title through mandatory re-training with Dias’s tweet used as a case study on the importance of professionalism.
This news comes after Team Liquid recently confirmed their teams will continue to wear Pride jerseys at the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia and the organisation will be making sizable donations to LGBTQ+ charities.
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
