Doinb could be facing a prison sentence for economic crimes
The 2019 World champion is reportedly being pursued by Chinese authorities for allegedly being an accomplice in gambling and money laundering on Douyu.
Last November, the news broke that the CEO of Douyu, one of China’s largest broadcasting platforms, had been recently arrested for gambling. These activities are illegal in the country, though it’s important to note the distinction between these and match-fixing: all the events mentioned here are separate from competition and the LPL.
It appears that Douyu has a feature where users who donate to the streamer can enter a giveaway. The platform has absolute control over this, which would make it quite easy to misappropriate the funds raised, easily rigging the activity and turning it into an alleged money laundering scheme with the appearance of gambling.
Many streamers were called to testify in court, and even several former LPL players were associated with the platform. A former Douyu streamer, «小智«, claimed to have left the website because he refused to participate in the alleged scheme and revealed that PDD, an LPL legend and founder of Young Miracles, was also involved. This streamer wasn’t the only one who wanted to distance themselves from Douyu: former players Sicca (WE, OMG) and Xiaoxiao (IG) also stated that they left the platform for the same reasons.
At the same time the case came to light, Doinb, another major user of Douyu, announced that he had to urgently travel to Korea to visit a sick family member. Although initially the events didn’t seem related, as everything progressed, doubts began to carry more and more weight:
The first arrest came in early December: «轻语619«, a Douyu streamer, was detained for his alleged involvement in gambling, and images of authorities searching his property quickly circulated. Although his identity wasn’t revealed, the community promptly identified his setup and recognized the young man.
The weeks continue to pass, and the midlaner remains silent on the matter. Since November 19 (the end of Worlds), he hasn’t streamed, spent the transfer season in sepulchral silence, and there have been no Chinese New Year greetings. We know how little transparency there is in these cases, especially when it comes to legal proceedings, but the absence of information seemed unusual in such a significant event.
However, the past few weeks seem to shed some light on things: HanYi, an agent for several players and close to many Lol Pro League organizations, revealed on his social media that Doinb’s situation could be even more tragic than PDD’s. According to the insider, the possibility that Doinb may not be able to return to China or resume streaming is becoming increasingly real. Rumor has it that, due to the ongoing legal process, the Chinese government has confiscated several of his properties (including a mansion he owned in Suzhou with his wife and even a Rolls-Royce Cullinan).
Journalist Wan Dianhao has also suggested that extradition may be considered to bring the midlaner back to China, and today he added a staggering piece of information: many of the streamers allegedly involved in this scheme could be facing sentences of more than 5 years in prison, but it’s unknown whether Doinb would be among them.
What does seem like a reality is that the cheerful and harmless image we had of the iconic player is fading away, and if we had any hope that it was all a fever dream and he would return to being the prominent public figure he once was, that hope diminishes more and more with each passing day.
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