Riot Games announced this afternoon that Beyond Gaming’s mid-laner Chien “Maoan” Mao-An has been suspended for the remainder of Worlds 2021. This comes as rumors speculated regarding Maoan leaking internal information to a friend for gambling purposes.
“During the 2021 World Championship, Maoan voted Rule 9.3 of the 2021 World Championship Ruleset, which prohibits association with gambling,” said Riot Games Director of Operations Tom Martell in a statement on Friday evening. “Competitive integrity is the foundation of our sport and we take all violations of our ruleset extremely seriously.”
Not only will Maoan be suspended for the duration of the tournament, but additional penalties may occur afterwards.
Rule 9.3 of the 2021 World Championship Ruleset specifically implies “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.”
Rumors speculated Friday afternoon after PCS host Jenny “Reirachu” Lee tweeted out that Maoan had leaked the strategies to friends for wagers. The tweet also revealed that owner of BYG Xue “DinTer” Hong-Wei turned on a stream confirming that the events took place and internal investigations were happening.
The ruling comes after Beyond Gaming pulled off a reverse sweep against Turkish representatives Galatasaray Esports in the Play-In Stage Knockout Rounds. They face off against LCK fourth seed Hanwha Life Esports Saturday morning.
It is unclear at this time who will replace Maoan in the midlane. This story is ongoing and will be updated as more information is provided.
