TaiLung responds to allegations and TI15 ban in fierce rebuttal

Michael Hassall Published 12/08/2026

Sanctioned Dota 2 player Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo has made a dramatic response to allegations of match-fixing and his ban from The International 2026 and all future PGL events in a new Facebook post.

The response, posted on the evening of Aug. 11, addresses multiple accusations and the ban against him by PGL. The post also criticizes the investigation process and situation surrounding his ban and suspension from the LGD Dota 2 roster ahead of TI15.

TaiLung fires back at accusers in TI15 ban rebuttal

TaiLung was banned from TI15 and all future PGL events on Aug. 8, as well as being removed from LGD. The news of his ban was published directly by LGD, with no official comment from PGL or Valve made on the banning.

The Peruvian player initially opted for silence, saying on an Instagram post that he had been advised by lawyers not to comment. Now in a fierce rebuttal on Facebook, Tailung has attempted to cast doubt on his accusers, while giving his breakdown of how the accusations and investigation started.

A portion of Tailung’s statement (Translated via Google). Image via Tailung on Facebook.

Describing that the investigation began after LGD was notified after “a data analyst associated with a bookmaker had detected an account placing bets on our games” (as per a translation via Google). Following this, Tailung alleges that teammates started to look to him as the guilty party, and LGD began an initial investigation which ended on Aug. 6 with no wrongdoing found.

Subsequently Tailung was reportedly asked to give up his phone, and conversations, which the player described “as an old Discord conversation with a friend” discussing money were highlighted. A message from an unknown number also seemed to potentially incriminate Tailung, who at some point, he reveals, attempted to destroy his phone.

The player maintains that the pressure and stress of the accusation caused his erratic behavior. He also calls on PGL and LGD to give the exact reason for his suspension and

The post seems likely to have been heavily curated by Tailung’s legal team, and deliberately casts doubts on the validity of several of his accusers. It also clearly lays the groundwork for a potential defamation suit, with PGL and LGD the potential targets.

Michael Hassall

About Michael Hassall

Michael is a eight-year veteran of the games writing space, but has being playing them for as long as he can remember. With bylines across the internet, he’s used his expertise to cover esports, prediction markets, mainstream gaming, streamers, and more besides.

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