Top Esports jungler naiyou under investigation following suspected violations of club regulations and professional ethics

The LPL has been hit by another suspected match-fixing scandal. On March 6, Chinese team Top Esports (TES) reported its jungler, Yang “naiyou” Zijian, to the league’s disciplinary team, following suspected behavior during official matches.

The investigation is currently underway, and the player is “suspected of engaging in improper conduct affecting competitive fairness.” As soon as the news broke, it caused an uproar online. It also turned top laner Bai “369” Jia-Hao, who had defended the rookie just a few days earlier, into a laughingstock, leading him to post on Weibo in frustration: “I’m the clown.”

Update, March 7: Added additional information at the bottom to reflect the latest developments. 

TES naiyou is under investigation after bizarre itemization

The incriminating series that led to the player’s investigation happened on March 2, when Top Esports faced Weibo Gaming (WBG) in the elimination series of the LPL Split 1 playoffs. The jungler’s performance already came under scrutiny after Game 1, when he face-checked a bush and ended up handing WBG a Baron Nashor. While mistakes like that can happen, fans were left questioning when the player, in the decisive game 5, went for an unconventional build path. Despite the enemy ADC being massively ahead, naiyou failed to buy armor and instead rushed multiple magic resistance items.

At the end of the match, Top Esports top laner 369 quickly posted on Weibo to support his teammate:  “We lost the match, and I didn’t play well either, so it’s fine if people flame me. But I saw a lot of really malicious comments about our jungle and support, and I couldn’t hold back from saying something. People always say the LPL has no new talent—if this is the kind of public opinion rookies face, how are they supposed to achieve anything? How are they supposed to play with confidence?” he said.

The investigation has started

Despite that, the controversy continued to grow, leading TES to launch its own internal investigation. On March 6, the team issued a public statement, stating that TES had reported the matter to the league, suspecting that naiyou had violated the club’s rules and professional ethics. At the time of writing, the LPL’s disciplinary team is currently investigating.

In the public post, TES emphasized that the club has always upheld the bottom line of fair competition and firmly opposes any violations that affect the fairness of competition, stating that any internal misconduct would be dealt with severely.

TES Head Coach Poppy unveils shocking news

On March 7, Top Esports head coach Chang “Poppy” Po-Hao has publicly said in a stream that naiyou admitted to matchfix every game the team lost in the LPL playoffs. He voiced his frustration, stating that Naiyou was so good that he could decide whether the team would win or lose games, thereby causing even more frustration.

TES head coach Poppy: "Naiyou admitted that he matchfixed every game TES lost in playoffs"

P: Do you know how "good" he is? If he wants to win he can win. If he wants to lose, he can lose to
: This makes me really upset. Think about our results. How far can we make if he didn't… pic.twitter.com/d2gwnulQSY

— Yuuu – lifeitsfkingmove (@tttttyuc) March 7, 2026

If the allegations were to be true, naiyou is expected to receive competitive ruling and face harsh punishment by the league. Unfortunately for the LPL, the league continues to be hit yet again by another major scandal, which will inevitably harm the league’s image once more, following previous matchfixing scandals that involved players such as former FPX junglers Cai “milkyway” Zi-Jun and Zhou “Bo” Yang-Bo.