LPL organization Rogue Warriors is being punished with a $400,000 fine for covering up a match-fixing incident.
The LPL Discipline Committee is not going easy on Rogue Warriors, the committee issued a warning with a three million RMB fine, equivalent to $423,687.50 USD. The punishment comes after an investigation into the allegations against former jungler Wang “WeiYan” Xiang for match fixing.
According to several reports, WeiYan had agreed to an offer to sabotage a match in the 2020 LPL Spring Split. WeiYan clarified through Weibo that he accepted, but eventually refused to go through with it and didn’t take any kind of payment.
Rogue Warriors decided to drop WeiYan from the team. The organization proceeded to report the incident to the LPL, but apparently, they did it only after covering up the situation for over a year. According to the LPL, the team only came forward about the situation once a third party got involved and reported WeiYan separately.
Now the organization must pay a substantial fine. WeiYan has been suspended from all tournaments and from streaming for 24 months. The LPL will work with different streaming platforms to ensure that WeiYan cannot stream any League of Legends-related content.
Some members of the League of Legends community believes that fining Rogue Warriors will actually keep the teams from reporting incidents in the future.
In reality, the team could’ve avoided the fine if they had reported the situation as soon as they became aware of it. The LPL’s fine is more a punishment for the team attempting to cover up up the potential match fixing scandal. Considering the severity of the situation, it could’ve been even worse for the team.
Tampering with the results of a game is considered one of the worse offenses in any competitive environment. It goes against the integrity of the league and all parties involved.
This is not the only match fixing scandal hitting the League of Legends competitive scene at the moment. Over in the LCL, Vega Squadron’s head coach is being accused of win trading. Riot Games has launched an investigation into those claims.
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.
