Misfits player Neon suspended by LEC for discriminatory language

Misfits Gaming’s bot laner Matúš “Neon” Jakubčík has been suspended for the first half of the LEC 2020 Spring Split due to in-game toxicity, Riot Games shared in a competitive ruling.

After league officials carried out an investigation across all of Neon’s accounts, objectionable behavior was found that warranted punishment. Neon is accused of being discriminatory towards his in-game teammates, even after Riot issued warnings and flagged his accounts in the past.

“Through an investigation carried out by League Officials, evidence demonstrated that Jakubčík displayed negative behavior in League of Legends in multiple instances over the course of the past months,” Riot games shared in the statement. “Jakubčík’s usage of discriminatory language towards other players in the game is unacceptable and has no place in our competitive ecosystem.”

Specifically, Neon is being punished for violating rule 9.2.4 of the LEC Rulebook, which states no members of a team are allowed to offend anyone’s integrity through discriminatory or denigrating words and actions.

Neon apologizes to fans, regrets his behavior

Shortly after Riot issued the competitive ruling, Neon turned to Twitter to apologize to his fans and reflect on his solo queue behavior. He admitted to being toxic in-game for a long time and stated he will use the time during the suspension to work on himself.

“On multiple occasions, I got lost in the heat of the moment and called people things I never should,” Neon said. “It’s as if I forgot that I was playing and interacting with people, rather than just champions and names. Sorry to all those affected.”

Neon also clarified he has never been toxic towards his teammates in Misfits or any other pro team and that this was an issue only within solo queue. While he’s not certain of his competitive future, he did add that he’s motivated to compete. He hopes to return to action by working on his behavior in public games