Xiang “Condi” Ren-Jie, jungler for LPL team LGD Gaming, has been issued a ban for a period of 18 months. The ban will run through December 2020.
Condi admitted to an LPL official that he had violated gambling rules based on the outcome of a match that he was involved in. It is thought that this may have involved a bet placed on LGD to win at a tournament that seeds for the Demacia Cup.
“I never tried to lose the game deliberately and was never involved in match fixing. I played every game to the best of my abilities and all I was thinking about was to win,” Condi said.
Whereas match fixing may sometimes involve players doing their best to lose games, Condi may have placed a bet on LGD winning, which would further motivate him to do his best.
Condi admitted that someone, initially thought to be team manager Hesitate before Condi made a second statement saying that was not the case, tried to blackmail Condi to fix the games and lose on purpose for financial reward. Condi refused this offer and reported the individual to officials.
LGD League of Legends manager Song “Hesitate” Zi-Yang has been banned from competitive League of Legends for life. At the time of writing the exact details around why Hesitate has been banned are unknown.
In a statement issued by LGD on Facebook, the organization has confirmed that contracts for both individuals have been terminated and that Hesitate “has repeatedly made improper behaviour that affects fair competition and tried to use his position to influence the results of the competition.”
Tang “1ntruder” Sheng and Fu “Fdy” Ding-Yuan, players for LGD academy team have also seen their contracts terminated. This would imply that the issue runs throughout the LGD Gaming organization.
LGD has confirmed that it will “strengthen its self-examination” and uphold a “zero tolerance” policy towards behavior of this nature. It is unclear as to whether the organization will suffer a penalty itself, or whether any further individual punishments will be had.
Condi achieved a fourth-place finish at the 2017 World Championship as a member of Team WE after being knocked out of the
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
