38 players, coaches, and managers have been banned from professional League of Legends after Riot handed down their results on a long-running LoL Development League (LDL) match-fixing scheme in China’s second-tier.
The bans come after a two-month investigation by Riot China into match fixing into the LDL, the feeder league for the LoL Pro League (LPL) in China.
Recently-promoted FunPlus Phoenix jungler Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo reported the match-fixing to league officials, claiming he was coerced by former coaches and teammates in one instance.
He was immediately suspended by FPX until investigations were complete.
Riot China were forced to halt the LDL mid-way through the Spring 2021 season after the issues became too widespread.
Bo and ThunderTalk Gaming’s jungler Xiang “bless” Yi-Tong and Wang “Teeen” Yao-Ji helped officials with the investigation. Bless was charged on three counts of matchfixing; twice in the LDL, and once in the LPL, while Teeen was charged with one.
“In the past two months, the LPL has launched anti-counterfeit gambling education and one-on-one investigations with all players, coaches, and training management of the 17 LPL teams,” Riot China said in a translated statement.
A number of fines and warnings were also handed down, but Riot China did not state how many.
Riot has not stated their intentions to restart the LDL for the Summer 2021 season. The developer is currently reworking the Chinese Academy system to curb the region’s match-fixing problem.
A full list of suspensions can be found below.
- Zhou “zhs” Hong-Shuai (SJ Gaming): 3 months
- He “705” Yu-Long (Joy Dream): 3 months
- Luo “Duye” Wei-Jin (Shu Dai Xiong Gaming): 3 months
- Yu “yanxiang” Yan-Xiang (Shu Dai Xiong Gaming): 3 months
- Li “Self” Hao (Royal Club): 3 months
- Li “Neet” Bo (WZ Esports Club): 3 months
- Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo (FunPlus Phoenix): 4 months
- Wang “Teeen” Yao-Ji (ThunderTalk Gaming): 4 months
- Li “Sixsix9” Quan-Qiu (WZ Esports Club): 4 months
- Chen “leiyu” Lei (WZ Esports Club): 6 months
- Xiao “fuyao” Bao-Xin (SJ Gaming): 6 months
- Long “Jz” Hang (Kaisa Gaming): 6 months
- Huang “Humble” Min-Min” (TWELVE): 6 months
- Wang “Monster” Jia-Ming (V5 87): 6 months
- Fan “TheFan” Jiang-Peng (Shu Dai Xiong Gaming): 6 months
- Wang “Beichen” Zhu-Min (Oh My Dream): 8 months
- Li “Lzc” Xi-An (MAX): 9 months
- Fan “corbie” Yong-Long (Kaisa Gaming): 9 months
- Zhang “ch1rry” Shi-Jie (SJ Gaming): 10 months
- Xiang “bless” Yi-Tong (ThunderTalk Gaming): 12 months
- Wang “Cherub” Jun-Jie (ThunderTalk Gaming Young): 12 months
- Yang “Wisdomz” Dai-Zhi (Invictus Gaming Young): 13 months
- Wan “Mint” Kun (Victorious Gaming): 15 months
- Zhou “I3est16” Zhi-Li (BLG Junior): 17 months
- Zhang “YTT” Wen-Yu (MAX): 18 months
- Liu “Laofei” Peng (MAX): 24 months
- Chen “L1n” Shi-Lin (All Combo): Lifetime ban
- Jiang “Haonan” Dong-Ming (Team Pinnacle): Lifetime ban
- Wang “Spunk” Zhi-Peng (SJ Gaming): Lifetime ban
- Jiang “happygame” Hong-Li (Kaisa Gaming): Lifetime ban
- Tian “MaiX” Mai (WZ Esports Club): Lifetime ban
- Wang “WeiYan” Xiang (Rogue Warriors): Lifetime ban
- Dong “Devi1” Zhi-Hao (V5 87): Lifetime ban
- Fan “Q1uShu1” Xiao-Nan (BLG Junior): Lifetime ban
- Yuan Hao-Chen (eStar Young): Lifetime ban
- Jin “JINZHONGBI” Zhong-Bi (Invictus Gaming Young): Lifetime ban
- Zhang “wxy97’ Xuan-Ming (Kaisa Gaming): Lifetime ban
- Wen “Feng” Ming-Feng (Rogue Warriors Shark): Lifetime ban
