According to team-aaa.com, the ESWC has failed to pay its subcontractors for the services performed at the French ESWC qualifier.

The French gaming website adds that one week prior to the world finals, the ESWC opted to part company with Reseau Local, which had provide computers and administration for the French qualifier, and agreed deals with two different companies, INSA Lan and Leni France, for these two services.

Reseau Local reportedly told the ESWC that a third of the €15,000 bill from the French qualifier would have to be paid in cash, with Games Solution, the company behind the ESWC, assuring them on May 21st, one day before the event, that the cheque had been sent.

However, aAa indicates that Reseau Local has not yet received any payment, almost a month-and-a-half after the event, and their attempts to contact games Solution have all been uneffective.

HLTV.org has learned that several of the ESWC's partners for the world finals have expressed their unhappiness at the paltry number of spectators at the event during the four days of competition.

"We held a meeting between exhibitors, we were promised an event with 50,000-80,000 people and in the end there were only 3,000. This is not honest," a Peugeot source told aAa.

Moreover, the ESWC had announced one week prior to the event that it had signed a "huge" contract with a new partner, whose name was supposed to be revealed during the ESWC finals.

HLTV.org was told during the event that the announcement would be made at the closing ceremony at the Walt Disney studios, but as the clock hit 2.00 AM and the studio's doors were closed, there were no signs of the new partner.

The ESWC had also indicated that the announcement of the winner of the $5,000 fragmovie contest would be made on the last day of the competition, but the French company stayed silent on the matter on Sunday.

After the French ESWC qualifier, Planet Saturn pulled out as sponsor, and aAa believes that more companies will do the same, now that the world finals have come to an end.

These facts raise a lot of questions about the ESWC's ability to pay out the $213,500 promised for this event, with the G7 vowing to act in September if the players do not receive their money by then and if the ESWC fails to adress the issue of the prize money owed from the 2008 edition.

HLTV.org has contacted the ESWC for a comment on this matter, but without any success so far.