While
the story first became public on Friday, March 6, with
announcing that
their jungler Yang "" Zi-Jian was currently under investigation, it took only a day to learn more and, most importantly, get the full picture of the situation.
In its statement, the Chinese organization hinted that the player was suspected of match-fixing. It was ultimately Chang "Poppy" Po-hao, TESâs head coach, who confirmed it this Saturday, March 7, during an LPL watch party, revealing that his former jungler had admitted to match-fixing every loss during the playoffs.
This article was updated on Saturday, March 7, at 6pm CET, 4.5 hours after publication, following a new update from Poppy. (available at the end of the article)
âThis makes me really upsetâ
"
He admitted that every game we lost in playoffs he match-fixed,â Poppy said while watching the loser bracket final of the first
LPL Split between JD Gaming and Weibo Gaming
on stream. For him, it is a betrayal and an even harder blow knowing how good naiyou actually is. As he explained, "
Do you know how good he is? If he wants to win, he can win. If he wants to lose, he can lose too," before adding that â
this makes me really upset. Think about our results. How far could we have gone if he hadnât match-fixed? I can't even imagine." A situation that now seems to be reaching some form of conclusion after the entire Chinese league scene erupted over the matter a day earlier. It should also be noted that Top Esports lost both of its playoff matches 2-3, first against JD Gaming, then against Weibo in the lower bracket.
Shortly after Top Esports published its statement on Weibo, several figures from the scene reacted, including Bai "
" Jiahao with a somewhat cryptic message: "
I'm such a clown..." That message gained some context when rumors emerged suggesting that Zi "JiaQi" Jiaqi, TESâs AD Carry, and Lin "Creme" Jian, the team's mid laner, personally asked TES CEO Guo "Hao" Hao to investigate naiyou.
According to the rumors circulating on Weibo, the two players even warned the organization that if no action were taken to confront the jungler, they would take the matter directly to the league. It therefore seems likely that 369âs message referred to this situation, as he may have wanted to believe in his junglerâs good faith, only to ultimately feel betrayed by the clubâs findings and naiyouâs confession.
For now, neither the LPL, Riot Games, nor Top Esports have communicated about possible sanctions regarding the Chinese player or Poppyâs public statements.
Poppy, TESâs head coach, later walked back his earlier comments in a post on Weibo a few hours later. Sheep Esports is, therefore, adding this update several hours after the article was first published, reporting his statements.
"I apologize for getting carried away earlier while chatting with a former teammate during the match viewing. My intention was simply to express that it was truly unfortunate that the first stage turned out the way it did because of this incident. At present, I am not aware of the latest investigation results or the specific details, so I ask everyone to please refer to the leagueâs official findings as the authoritative source.
I sincerely apologize for this uninformed behavior."
The quotes used in this article were translated from Chinese, based on translations by @tttttyuc on X. 
