Overwatch League pro released from Spark following racial insults against Chinese player

Overwatch League's Hangzhou Spark has made the decision to terminate the contract of flex support Lee "MCD" Jeong-ho following the Korean player being caught throwing racial insults at Team Chaser's Zhou "XRAY" Xiyan.

The now-former OWL player and the Chinese main tank currently playing in Contenders for Chengu Hunters' academy team, got grouped in a ranked match with MCD, with the support player flaming XRAY for his performance, calling him a "f*cking Chinese" in English at one point.

In their statement, Spark explained that "MCD's action and comments has broken the stipulation of the player contract. it (sic) also against the Hangzhou Spark's team values," adding that he will "no longer serve the role of Hangzhou Spark's flex support player."

MCD was touted as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate when he joined OWL for the 2021 season, having impressed with his Ana and Zenyatta play with Element Mystic in Contenders Korea.

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His individual performances alongside the Spark's as a team were lacklustre, with the team sitting in fifth place in the East Division with a 7-9 record, needing to beat the Philadelphia Fusion and Seoul Dynasty during the upcoming play-ins to earn a spot in the season playoffs set to be played offline in Dallas, Texas.

This isn't the first time a Korean player has gotten in trouble with Chinese fans, as Jong-ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park was forced to apologise following comments supporting Hong Kong.

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