LGD mid laner Jay banned from competition after match-fixing investigation

LGD mid laner Chen "Jay" Bo has officially been banned from all competitions and forbidden from streaming League of Legends. The ruling was announced on social media platform Weibo on Friday, April 8th, in a post that was translated by Korizon’s Kevin Kim.

The ruling was apparently the result of an investigation started on April 5th by the “professional event discipline management team” of the LPL. This was predicated by the release of seemingly incriminating messages from Jay that alleged he conspired to lose several LPL matches this season.

Jay is one of two mid laners on the roster for LGD, and has played in several of LGD’s matches during the LPL 2022 Spring season. LGD finished the split with a 3-13 record, almost dead last in the standings, in 16th place. There were 17 teams in the 2022 LPL Spring season.

The LPL has been rocked with issues this season, primarily related to the increased quarantine regulations in Shanghai. With postponements and delays thanks to these restrictions, the last thing the league needs is more controversy.

Recently it’s been speculated whether the LPL will even make it to the Mid Season Invitational (MSI). MSI is one of just two annual international events for League of Legends. What's more, MSI will be LPL’s first test against other regions this year. As a region that historically places very highly in international competition missing out would be disastrous for the LPL.

Now, with a match-fixing scandal in their midst, the very competitive integrity of the league is being called into question. The LPL is one of League of Legends best talent pools. But the spectre of match-fixing challenge whether the Chinese league is really all it's cracked up to be. LGD's Jay has cast a shadow across his entire league.