A professional League Of Legends player has been banned from the Worlds 2021 tournament for leaking details of his team’s strategy, allegedly “for the purposes of wagering”.
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While competing at Worlds – the highest-level League Of Legends competition in the world – Beyond Gaming’s mid-laner Chien “Maoan” Mao-An was handed a suspension from the tournament. According to Riot Games, Maoan has been suspended for leaking his team’s drafting strategies to a friend for the purposes of betting on a match at worlds.
In a statement posted on October 8, a competitive ruling said that “the Competitive Operations team obtained definitive evidence showing Maoan provided inside information to a friend for the purposes of wagering on today’s match.”
Maoan allegedly told his friend which champions his team were likely to pick for a pivotal match at Worlds. Certain gambling sites allow users to bet on which champions will be picked in the game, meaning that someone can profit significantly from having inside knowledge of a team’s strategy.
Competitive Ruling: Chien "Maoan" Mao-An pic.twitter.com/x4c8Lhw5n7
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 8, 2021
The competitive ruling added that “Maoan will be suspended for the remainder of the 2021 World Championship, and may be subject to additional penalties following a full investigation”.
Maoan is now ineligible to compete for a shot at a prize pool of $2.225million (£1.634million), and his team – Beyond Gaming – will now need to play the rest of the tournament with a substitute mid laner. However, a host for League Of Legends‘ Pacific Championship Series – where Maoan and Beyond Gaming compete – has stated that Beyond Gaming does not have a substitute mid laner (spotted by Inven Global).
On Facebook, the owner of Beyond Gaming has apologised to fans, saying, “I can only apologise to everyone who is disappointed and angry”.
In other news, a spooky trailer for Rainbow Six Siege has confirmed the return of Doktor’s Curse.
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