Get PremiumThe LPL has officially handed down its verdict: Yang "Naiyou
Naiyou Receives Lifetime Ban From Professional League of Legends
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The sanctions are as follows: a lifetime ban from competitive play, effective immediately; the revocation of eligibility for any official honors or awards; and a permanent prohibition from participating in any professional or semi-professional competition organized by Tencent or Riot Games in any capacity, anywhere in the world.
The league acknowledged that Top Esports acted swiftly by reporting the situation and cooperating fully with the investigation, but also noted serious shortcomings in the club's day-to-day player management, having failed to detect and prevent naiyou's conduct in time.
In a separate statement on Weibo, Top Esports announced the immediate termination of naiyou's contract, the end of all cooperation with the player — stating he will never be re-signed — and the withholding of all unpaid salary, prize money, and team benefits. TES also reserved the right to pursue legal action for breach of contract and economic damages. The organization added that it would launch an internal anti-match-fixing education program and overhaul its player management, competition monitoring, and risk assessment systems.
The league stressed that the investigation is not over: leads uncovered during the process will be pursued further, including information related to suspected external individuals. The disciplinary team will share relevant findings with all leagues and teams across the ecosystem.
This is the latest in a long line of match-fixing scandals that have plagued the LPL and its development league. naiyou joins former FPX jungler Cai "milkyway" Zi-Jun — who received a reported lifetime ban in late 2025 — and Zhou "Bo" Yang-Bo among the most high-profile cases. Three promising junglers lost to match-fixing in the span of a few years — a devastating trend for a region that already struggles to develop new talent at the position. Each ban does not just end a career; it removes a potential cornerstone from a talent pipeline the LPL desperately needs to replenish if it wants to remain competitive at the highest level.
The league reiterated its zero-tolerance stance, calling match-fixing a "cancer" that threatens the industry's development and an absolute red line for professional players. For Top Esports, the damage extends beyond the ruling. As head coach Chang "Poppy" Po-hao revealed earlier this month before walking back his comments, naiyou admitted to match-fixing every game TES lost during the playoffs. The team fell 3-2 to both Weibo Gaming and JD Gaming — the two squads that went on to contest the Lower Bracket Final — raising painful questions about how far TES could have gone with a jungler who was actually trying to win.