In the League of Legends, there is a serious scandal: In China, games were manipulated to profit from betting on eSports. Riot Games temporarily or permanently bans 38 professional players, coaches, or managers. Among them is the excellent new jungler “Bo” from the 2019 LoL world champion FunPlus Phoenix. The 19-year-old had initiated the uncovering of the scandal.
Why were the professionals banned? It concerns “match fixing,” the deliberate manipulation of games.
Due to the Corona crisis, many regular sports events were canceled, leading to a rise in betting on the outcomes of LoL games in recent years. Betting sites now offer bets not only on games in the professional leagues but even on regular matches when a prominent player participates.
Apparently, some professionals in the Chinese leagues were lured by quick money. It was mainly about players from the youth league LDL – but some of the up-and-coming professionals had already made it to the top league LPL, which is now also facing the ban hammer.
These are the victims of the bans:
- The jungler of FunPlus Phoenix, Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo, had already earned several appearances in the LPL this season to represent the top jungler Tian. He receives a ban of 4 months.
- In the mid-tier team in the LPL, “ThunderTalk Gaming,” two players are caught: the supporter Teeeen is banned for 4 months, and the jungler bless for 12 months.
- In the youth league LDL, severe penalties are imposed: The entire team of “Sheng Jie Gaming” is disqualified. The top laner Spunk and 11 other coaches, players, or managers are banned for life.
During the bans, players are not allowed to participate in official LoL matches, nor are they allowed to stream LoL. They effectively have a work ban.
Jungler makes the breakthrough, then spills the beans
How did all this come out? The turning point was also the most prominent ban: The FunPlus Phoenix jungler “Bo”: At just 19, he had already made it into a top team in China. He moved up to FunPlus Phoenix because star jungler Tian, the MVP of Worlds 2019, was going through a form crisis and wanted to recover from psychological and physical issues.
Bo impressed in his appearances for FunPlus Phoenix and looked like a rising star.
The up-and-coming jungler had reported himself to the league in February 2021 and confessed that he was involved in match fixing. His self-report led to the investigations and the current bans.
Bo says: He is very sorry. He has spent the last months suffering and regretting. He doesn’t even know how to look people in the face anymore. He should never have violated the rules under any circumstances. What is wrong is simply wrong (via twitter).
Because Bo had been cooperative during the investigations, 2 months of his 6-month sentence were waived: Nevertheless, he is now banned for a long time and will have to return without practice when allowed to play again. But many others may be hit even harder by the ban than he is.
FunPlus Phoenix is one of the most exciting and strongest LoL teams in the world. This year, they finished second in China behind RNG. Especially exciting at FunPlus Phoenix is Doinb. The creative and innovative midlaner has clear views on LoL:
