In the e-sport of League of Legends, there are always smaller tournaments. Here, the substitute and rookie players of the top teams gain their competitive experience. Riot Games had to enforce its rules in the competitive game of the Turkish league. 14 players have lost their chance to play in the professional league for the next few years.
Why were the players banned? In recent years, the option to bet on the outcome of the tournament or a match has arisen in competitive League of Legends. Similar to football, fans can bet on matches and winnings are paid out when their team wins.
Some players from the Turkish e-sport league allegedly conspired to manipulate the outcomes of matches and bet on them. Due to suspicious activity regarding these bets, Riot Games became aware of the situation towards the end of spring.
Since then, the publisher has been investigating the situation in the Turkish league. After a similar scandal shook the Chinese league in 2021, everyone was waiting for Riot’s decision on what would happen in the Turkish league.
Riot Games had already banned players this month due to an item but had to reverse this decision.
League of Legends has become a massive franchise over the years and is continuing to grow:
Riot Games reveals its investigation results: The studio explains that multiple players were found in a large setup, who not only allegedly bet on the outcomes of matches but also on specific events within the match.
These include the first kill or the MVP, the strongest player in the match. The alleged manipulators are also said to have hired people to make noise to distract the players on stage.
Riot Games imposed the first sanctions directly in May and then continued the investigation. The studio has forwarded the investigation to the local authorities. From there, further penalties are expected to be imposed.
Riot is known for cracking down hard:
Which players have been affected? Riot has banned a total of 14 players from e-sport, some of them for several years:
- Efehan ‘361efe’ Ordulu – He received a 5-year ban
- Ahmet Ömer ‘chr1sz’ Mutlu – received a 4-year ban
- Alperen ‘Poguee’ Sakallı – received a 4-year ban
- Eyüp ‘Crasia’ Oğur – was banned for 3 years
- Serhat Kaan ‘CrawL’ Hitay – also received a 3-year ban
- Oğuzhan ‘Oguzkhan’ Delihasanoğlu – also received a 3-year ban
The other players were only banned for a few months or until Riot Games completes its investigation of the matter.
- Eren ‘Dellal’ Tanrıkulu
- Enes ‘Secondate’ Çelik
- Ali ‘SunShine’ Aslan
- Bedirhan ‘Cape’ Çalışkan
- Bedirhan ‘Joexy’ Kalkan
- Muhammet ‘Momer’ Omer
- Yigit ‘Lenom’ Kantar
- Cengizhan ‘Merciless’ Teker
Is there a player on this list that you know or have followed in the league? Let us know in the comments.
