Flashpoint, CSPPA in dispute over $165,000 fee

A dispute between Flashpoint and the Counter-Strike Professional Players' Association (CSPPA) has been made public following a report by DBLTAP, with the tournament organiser making a series of scathing remarks about the player association.

The report by DBLTAP revealed a letter sent by Flashpoint to the CSPPA in which the tournament organiser stated that it is withholding payment of a previously-agreed $165,000 sum for the players' intellectual property rights for the opening season. The letter claims that CSPPA's inaction caused the Flashpoint league and players a loss of revenue, and implies a potential conflict of interest and lack of transparency from the association.

In the leaked letter, it is mentioned that a prospective monitor sponsor backed out of a deal with Flashpoint due to CSPPA not responding to requests about the viability of those monitors for the "Event Minimum Standard" in time. Other allegations made by Flashpoint in the letter include the CSPPA failing to engage in rules discussion, which hindered Flashpoint in their attempts to penalize players for misbehaviors, the player association's failure to create a ranking system and its "purported conflict of interest", tied to the Heroic - FunPlus Phoenix transfer that fell apart at the final hour.

CSPPA followed the report with a statement on Twitter, claiming that "the baseless allegations" are "completely unrelated" to the $165,000 fee Flashpoint owes CSPPA for the players' IP rights.

Additionally, CSPPA rejected allegations that it operated as an agency with regards to the Heroic roster's transfer to FunPlus Phoenix by advising the players to make "new, severely above-market salary demands" at the final hurdle, causing the deal to collapse. The player association replied stating that it "stepped in to help a group of players in a very tough situation" and that one of its core services is to provide advice on contracts and other legal matters. This claim has seemingly been challenged by Heroic CEO Erik Askered, who wrote on Twitter: "Did these guys simply forget that it was an actual person they negotiated with? Or did they just think I wouldn’t see this tweet?"

Flashpoint has not officially commented on the matter.