Former TSM Coach Zhang Receives A Permanent Ban from League of Legends

Former TSM coach Peter Zhang has been permanently banned from all League of Legends esports on Monday, August 8. Riot announced the news in an official ruling after TSM conducted an internal investigation of Zhang, who has been accused of diverting money from players’ salaries.

Peter Zhang was accused of diverting TSM players’ salaries earlier this year; however, the official ruling on the situation has not been released until this Monday, when Riot Games released the findings, confirming the accusations. As a result, Riot banned Zhang from any association or affiliation with a team or organization in any Riot-sanctioned competition.

“Peter Zhang violated the LCS Rule Set as well as the LCS Eligibility and Release Agreement by diverting portions of player salaries to accounts belonging to Peter Zhang and his associates, by misleading and failing to fully compensate a former TSM player for the sale of the player’s car, and by soliciting loans from TSM players and staff.”

According to Riot Games’ findings, between December 2021 and February 2022, Zhang took approximately $250,000 from two TSM players, who were to receive a significant portion of their salaries through a third-party entity in China. Although the identity of the two players has remained confidential, previous reports suggest that one of the players was former TSM support Wang “Yursan” Sheng-Yu.

Besides diverting players’ salaries, Zhang also asked for money from eight TSM players and staff members. Once TSM became aware of Zhang’s efforts of soliciting money from players, he got fired from the organization, albeit it wasn’t until Match 18, 2022, that Zhang got removed from TSM.

“TSM became aware of Peter Zhang’s solicitation on March 18, 2022, and took immediate action to reverse pending wire transfers, preventing Peter Zhang from receiving at least $20,000 more in loans,” Riot said in its statement. “To date, approximately $4,500 remains unpaid to the players who loaned Peter Zhang money.”

Additionally, in October 2021, Zhang agreed to sell the car of former TSM LoL player Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh and give the player full proceeds of the sale. The evidence Riot Games found indicates that Zhang misled the player, informing him that he could not sell the car. After Zhang sold the car for $80,000, he has only returned $35,000 to SwordArt and kept $45,000 for himself, which he has yet to repay.

Riot Games concluded the investigation by unveiling that Zhang has, between January 18, 2022, to March 18, 2022, solicited eight TSM players – which he had managerial authority over – and staff members to lend him approximately $15,000, which he has yet to repay.

After TSM became aware of Zhang’s solicitation, the organization immediately reversed all pending wire transfers, preventing Zhang from receiving at least $20,000 more in loans from players and staff members. To date, Zhang owes approximately $4,500 to the players who loaned him money.

During the investigation, Riot investigators, TSM, and TSM’s third-party law firm reviewed interviews with 12 witnesses, communication between TSM members and Zhang, and bank transfer records. Finally, Riot invited Zhang to submit his statement on the above allegations, which he did but failed to procure any compelling evidence refuting the accuracy of the findings.

Ultimately, Zhang has been found guilty of violating Rule 14.-20 of the LCS Rule Sert and Section 2 of the LCS Eligibility and Release Form. Consequently, Zhang is permanently banned from any association or affiliation with any team or organization in a Riot-sanctioned competition.

Section 14 of the LCS rulebook allows LCS to penalize any league members who participate in an action, which the league finds unfair.