The mid laner has been removed from the tournament following evidence of gambling association.
The 2021 LoL World Championship is in full swing, with players from around the world passionately putting everything they have into the game to prove themselves on the biggest stage in LoL esports. However, one such player has just been removed from the tournament. That’s Beyond Gaming’s mid laner, Chien “Maoan” Mao-An, on the grounds of associating with gambling.
Earlier today, PCS caster and host Jenny “Reirachu” Lee sent out a worrying tweet about the situation. In it, she said that there was talk that Maoan was leaking game drafts to others who were betting on the games. Apparently, she also heard rumors that other team members were involved in leaking photos too. The situation allegedly escalated quite quickly as well, as Reirachu explains that Beyond Gaming’s owner Xue “DinTer” Hong-Wei went on stream to say that he was going to fire Maoan.
This situation wasn’t confirmed right away though. It took a couple of hours until LoL Esports released an official competitive ruling on Twitter.
Competitive Ruling: Chien "Maoan" Mao-An pic.twitter.com/x4c8Lhw5n7
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 8, 2021
LoL Esports’ competitive ruling
The competitive ruling explicitly states that Maoan was in violation of the official ruleset. The rule cited, Rule 9.3, is very straightforward, and is as follows:
“No Team Member or WCE official may take part, either directly or indirectly, in betting or gambling on any results of any WCE game, match or tournament.”
It appears that the evidence against Maoan was clear and unmistakable. As a result, he will no longer be eligible to participate in the World Championship. There will also be a more thorough investigation moving forward, with more possible punishments. So far, there is no confirmation about other members taking part in this rule-breaking.
It’s a sad day for Beyond Gaming and their fans. They’re set to play a best-of-five tomorrow against Hanwha Life Esports for a chance to make it to the Main Stage of Worlds. But without their mid laner, and no mid lane substitute to be had, things look dire. It could be even worse if other members are found to have participated in this kind of rule-breaking. Hopefully, the rest of the team is without fault and can still put on a decent performance.
Featured image via Michal Konkol/Riot Games.
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