Is any of these statements true?
Let's look at each of the statements you mentioned:
1. "They are saying since the other team cheated the money has to stay in 'escrow' for a little time." We have no way of knowing if this is true or not because we are not privy to the rules of the tournament.
2. "if they transfer us funds they are liable to get sued." In the abstract, anyone is "liable to get sued," so this is probably true (albeit irrelevant).
3. "Because the other team has some time to file a complaint against them." As with the first statement, we have no way of knowing if this statement is or isn't true because we are not privy to the rules of the tournament.
There should be written rules governing this video game tournament,* and I assume you and all of the other teams agreed to those rules when you signed up. You need to read the rules. If they're online, you could post a link and maybe someone will look at them.
* - If there are no written rules, then this becomes much more murky.
and is it legal to not pay us for over a month after the tournament?
Depends on the rules. The 32nd season of The Amazing Race was run in late November and early December 2018, and the winner still hasn't been paid because the final episode has not yet aired. That's perfectly legal because the rules of the show state that the winner doesn't get paid until after the full season has aired.