Yang “Naiyou” Zijian, a professional League of Legends player and former jungler for Chinese esports organisation Top Esports (TES), has been permanently banned from competitive play after being found guilty of match-fixing.
The decision was announced on March 27, 2026, by the LPL Disciplinary Management Team. The ruling bans Naiyou for life from the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), all Riot Games competitions, and all Tencent and TJ Sports events, including both professional and semi-professional tournaments.
According to the official ruling, Naiyou violated competitive integrity rules during the 2026 LPL Split 1 (Winter) Playoffs. The league stated that he was involved in match-fixing, which is considered a serious offense.
Top Esports has already taken action against the player. The organisation terminated his contract immediately, withheld all remaining salary and bonuses, and said it will introduce anti-match-fixing education programs for players and staff. TES has also signed former world champion jungler Tian (Li Tian) as his replacement.
The issue first came to light in early March 2026, when Top Esports noticed unusual gameplay during their playoff matches. The team conducted an internal investigation, collected evidence, and reported the matter to the league. On March 6, Naiyou was suspended while the LPL began its own investigation.
During the investigation, Naiyou admitted that he had intentionally thrown every game that TES lost in the playoffs. TES head coach Chang “Poppy” Po-hao also said on stream that Naiyou told the team he could choose whether to win or lose. He added that the player confirmed fixing all their losses, including using unusual in-game strategies. Poppy later said people should wait for the official results.
After completing its review, the LPL issued the lifetime ban. The league praised TES for reporting the issue but also criticised the organisation for having serious problems in its day-to-day management and oversight. It urged all teams to take this case as a warning and improve their systems to prevent match-fixing.
Lately, we’ve been seeing more cases of esports players getting into legal trouble or banned. Just two weeks ago, Aleksi “Aleksib“ Virolainen from Natus Vincere (NAVI) was hit with aggravated tax fraud charges in Finland. paiN Gaming also dropped Alexandre “TitaN“ Lima after serious allegations on sexual crime surfaced. On top of that, professional VALORANT player Seungmin Oh got a 12-month ban from Riot Games competitions over match-fixing.
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