Sources: TCL rejects Blue's LTR status, Supermassive forced to adapt roster

Blue won't count as a Turkish resident in the TCL next year

GMidlaner Ersin "Blue" Gören will not count as a resident player (LTR) in the Turkish League Of Legends Championship (TCL) next year. As a consequence, Papara SuperMassive are forced to make roster changes in order to fulfill the two resident minimal requirement.

The organization has as a consequence reached a verbal agreement with AD Carry Fatih "Luger" Güven. He is likely going to take the AD Carry position instead of Belan "TakeSet" Ahour. The Turkish organization also considered fielding Jungler Can "Closer" Çelik in order to fix the situation.

An unexpected situation

Sheep Esports previously reported the full roster of Papara SuperMassive in the TCL with the following players. All of them had reached an agreement.

Toplane: Armut
Jungle: Skeanz
Midlane: Blue
AD Carry: TakeSet
Support: Jactroll

Like all European Regional Leagues, TCL teams are required to have two resident players in their roster. With this rule in mind, Supermassive decided to field Armut and Blue to fulfill that role. However, Blue's status as a resident in the TCL has been rejected last night following weeks of discussions.

According to the ERL Rulebook, a player must fulfill at least one of the following criteria in order to be considered an LTR:

The Player has legally resided and been primarily present in the competitive area of the ERL for no less than 36 out of the last 60 months immediately prior to their participation in the first Game of the applicable competition.
The Player who has been on an ERL Team Roster for the majority of applicable matches in an ERL in no less than two of the last three ERL Splits immediately prior to their participation in the first Game of the applicable competition.
For LEC players, if the LEC organisation operates an ERL roster: The player was on the roster of an LEC team for the majority of Competition Weeks in no less than two of the last three LEC Competitive Half-Seasons prior to their participation in the first game of the applicable competition.
The Player has legally resided and been primarily present in the competitive area of the ERL for at least 36 months after their 13th birthday, defined as having lived 13 full years.
A player can gain the LTR status by participating in any of 1st or 2nd Division ERLs, excluding Pro-Am and other regional

Despite this, the Belgian-Turkish player won't be granted an LTR status in the TCL next year.

This came as a surprise to many parties involved considering the following claims about Blue:

Blue is a Turkish citizen
Blue played for Fenerbahçe Esports in the TCL previously.
The TCL is the only ERL Blue played in
Blue is owner of a house/appartment in Turkey
Blue played for two years in Turkey.
Blue only used Turkish residency in the LEC & LCS, not EU residency.

The only argument the could have worked in favor of Blue's LTR status, is to prove that he spent 36 months in Turkey during the last five years. Sheep Esports sources do not know whether this has been the case or not, but know that this couldn't be proven.

Blue will be staying with Supermassive for the next year, as he is already with the team in Turkey. However, Supermassive decided to make changes in other roles as a consequence.

Sadly for TakeSet, unless something changes, he will have to leave his spot for Luger. A very unfortunate situation for the player. As reported very early in the offseason, the Danish player had interest from almost all LFL teams and was set to play a pivotal year in his career as a top ERL prospect. The expectations were to join LEC for 2025.

Luger, who would fill the position instead, will join the TCL as a resident after playing himself in the LCS as well. He was previously Botlaner for 100 Thieves and CLG.

Sheep Esports is currently sending emails to parties involved and should edit this story with further comments if needed.