The collapse of YaLLa Esports

YaLLa Esports, a prominent Middle Eastern tournament organizer, has collapsed owing more than $1 million to employees, teams, and business partners. The Dubai-based company announced its liquidation in July 2025, ending its ambitious Counter-Strike tournament series that promised $1.5 million in total prize money. The company's financial troubles became clear when staff salaries went unpaid for months. HLTV's MIRAA dives deep into the rabbit hole to uncover the situation.

YaLLa Esports' CEO Klaus Kajetski reportedly announced the bankruptcy during an internal meeting on July 18, telling employees that continuing operations was "no longer viable." Many staff members described the announcement as self-centered and focused on Kajetski's own emotions and struggles rather than acknowledging the team's situation.

YaLLa owes approximately $700,000 in unpaid prize money from eight tournaments. Major teams affected include The MongolZ, who won $200,000 at the 2024 Abu Dhabi event but remain unpaid, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, owed $56,000 as runners-up. Other teams like NAVI Junior, BetBoom, Complexity, and ENCE are also waiting for payments dating back to December 2023. The MongolZ were apparently promised half of their prize money in September and the other half by the end of 2025.

The collapse has particularly hurt freelance talent working in esports. Casters who worked recent online tournaments are supposedly owed over $35,000, while other freelancers lost thousands in expenses when events were cancelled. Some industry veterans say the situation has made them reconsider freelancing in the tier-2 scene.

YaLLa's problems escalated earlier this year when its tournament lost official ranking status due to rule violations. In April, the company moved its Qatar event online and cut the prize pool in half, citing "unexpected scheduling constraints." The cancelled live event also meant refunding $160,000 to sponsor 1xBet which also seems to be pending. The company had chronic cash flow issues according to it's employees, with staff regularly going unpaid for weeks or months. Former employees describe a pattern of broken promises and excuses from management.

The situation extends beyond recent tournaments. Five players from YaLLa's former Honor of Kings team are still owed approximately $50,000 from the 2023 World Championship. Despite receiving the prize money from publisher Tencent, YaLLa never paid the players their share. Despite claims of entering liquidation, affected parties remain skeptical about recovering their money. Kajetski has provided no documentation of the bankruptcy process and continues directing creditors to email YaLLa directly rather than an official liquidator. Former staff members advise each other to assume they will never see their money.

Industry representatives have expressed concern about the broader impact on esports. A BetBoom spokesperson told HLTV that such collapses create risk for the entire ecosystem and make it harder to attract non-gambling sponsors to the scene. For a complete and in-depth timeline of events, quotes from affected parties, YaLLa's ex-personnel and a few other industry professionals, check out MIRAA's article on HLTV.