Multiple current and former members of 3DMAX have made statements on X regarding the organization's unpaid salaries, confirming the issue and acknowledging it as a long-standing, persistent problem that has impacted the team's competitive performance.
These statements were released after KRL exposed that the French organization owed players, staff, and other related parties over 1.5 million euros in arrears.
This French insider also revealed that CYRILmp4 had held talks to acquire 3DMAX and signed a preliminary agreement, but ultimately withdrew, while players turned down other offers during the negotiation process.
"In competition, pressure has always been a privilege, but this is a different kind of pressure. Under CS2’s extremely dense recent schedule, not many can bear it and carry it day after day. But we found a way to keep fighting and delivering performances," Maka wrote on social media.
"Everyone was 100% committed, but since last summer, month after month, it felt like everyone was being worn down and getting too deep into it (which is understandable), even with the deepest love and passion for the game itself."
While Maka has not addressed his own salary situation, the team's two most recent coaches, YouKnow and wasiNk, revealed their respective issues with salary payments shortly after news emerged that both Passion UA and Monte had similarly delayed salaries for their employees and players.
"Yes, I did receive money during that period," YouKnow stated in the declaration. "However, each payment was only used to cover a long-overdue month, never as salary for the current month. So the arrears were never truly resolved; they were merely postponed. In the end, those eight months I spent as head coach felt like working for nothing—completely unpaid."
Current team coach wasiNk admitted that this situation has cost the team dearly in high-pressure moments. "In the end, everyone is left with only one reality in mind. If you don't perform, you don't get paid, and you can't pay off your debts. This inevitably explains the multiple collapses in certain matches—the players were under too much pressure tied to their performance," he wrote on social media.
All of this casts a cloud of uncertainty over the team members' future, prompting the most senior member, Maka, to make an appeal to the community for help in participating in the upcoming tournament and fighting for a chance to qualify for the Major.
"If you are interested in or have faith in this project, feel free to contact me at any time. We need your support to participate in the upcoming offline competition."