Riot Games has announced that Joseph "ban" Seungmin Oh has been suspended for 12 months following a match-fixing investigation.

Evidence gathered by Riot found ban in violation of Article 4.14 of the Riot Games Esports Global Code of Conduct, relating to match-fixing or manipulation. The breach resulted from ban engaging with individuals and entertaining proposals for match manipulation, which included financial terms, in a VCT Pacific Stage 2 match between Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Unranked PatMen Patrick Mendoza UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov xavi8k Xavier Juan Autumn Kale Dunne and Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Unranked kellyS Kelly Sedillo JessieVash Jessie Cuyco TenTen Kim Tae-young (김태영) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma held on July 19, 2025.

"While ban claimed they did not intend to carry out the proposed manipulation, their engagement still constituted a violation under the Global Code of Conduct," Riot's statement says. "Riot Games also considered several mitigating factors in determining the appropriate sanction, including ban's prompt self-reporting of their misconduct before disciplinary proceedings began."

In addition to his one-year suspension, ban is required to complete an educational training focused on integrity and ethics within a competitive environment before re-entering the ecosystem. The training must be provided by an independent and reputable third-party service provider that is unaffiliated with ban. Additionally, in order to ensure the training provider and program meets the aforementioned expectations, ban must receive prior written approval from the league and provide evidence of completion.

Failure to comply with the above training requirements before seeking re-entry into the Riot Games esports ecosystem may result in further disciplinary actions against Ban and their current or future team.

In its statement, Riot included a timeline of its findings. On August 27, Riot became aware of an online post containing unverified screenshots that appeared to show messages discussing match-fixing within VCT Pacific. As a result, Riot appointed sports technology company Sportradar to further look into the matter. Sportradar completed interviews with all relevant persons and witnesses, which concluded on November 18, 2025.

While Riot could not find evidence that could conclusively verify the authenticity of the aforementioned screenshots or allegations, information gathered through witness testimonies and document review indicated that ban may have engaged in activities related to match-fixing. Riot initiated disciplinary proceedings against ban on December 3, and provided him with an opportunity to submit a statement. ban's written statement was submitted on December 10.

The investigation found that ban engaged with individuals seeking to arrange match manipulation and entertained their proposals instead of declining and immediately reporting the approach. ban continued the conversation and discussed the terms offered. During the investigation, ban claimed that he did not intentionally underperform and fix the outcome of the match.

A performance evaluation of ban in the match of interest, which took into account gameplay data, K/D/A statistics, and other factors, was also conducted. The evaluation found that there was not sufficient evidence to establish that ban intentionally underperformed.

Riot shared that ban's alleged lack of intent to deliberately underperform did not absolve him of the violation, and played a limited role in reducing their responsibility. Riot noted that ban self-reported the incident to their team management before being contacted by Riot, and that while this disclosure occurred after the match, the timing occurred before disciplinary proceedings began, therefore meaning the report was treated as a meaningful mitigating circumstance.

Riot considers the matter closed, the ruling as final, and cannot be appealed. Riot did state that if new, substantive evidence comes to light, it may warrant a review of the matter at its own discretion.