Lee Sang-hyeok (27), the new ‘Faker’ of League of Legends (LoL), who is said to be the best e-sports star in history, was selected as one of the ’10 sports power rankings of 2023′ by the leading British newspaper The Times.
On the 15th (local time), The Times introduced, “Faker, nicknamed ‘The Unkillable Demon King,’ is a member of the Korean team T1, which won the 2023 World Championship.”
He went on to explain why he chose an e-sports star as the ‘power man in sports’ for the first time in history, saying, “The sports section doesn’t cover e-sports often, but it won’t be long before Faker becomes a mainstream Olympic star like Usain Bolt.”
The Times placed Faker at the center of the ‘Top 10 Influencers’, including soccer emperor Lionel Messi, Otani Shohei, who recorded the highest contract in MLB history at $700 million (KRW 724 billion), Australia’s top women’s soccer star Sam Kerr, YouTuber KSI, who organizes boxing matches for influencers and mixed martial artists, and Yasir Al-Rumaiyaan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), who launched the LIV Tour in opposition to the US PGA Tour, are among the top 10 sports circles. was selected as a major figure.
Faker has numerous records, including the most wins ever in the LoL World Championship (4 times), the first to win the LoL World Championship twice in a row, the most wins in the LoL Korea Championship (10 times), the first to win the LoL Korea Championship three times in a row, and a gold medal in the Asian Games. there is.
Faker, who is known to be receiving an annual salary of around 10 billion won, received a scouting offer from China in 2021 with an annual salary of 26 billion won, but rejected it.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.