Competitive Integrity Under Pressure: Naiyou’s Lifetime Ban and the Governance Challenge for Esports

(Editor’s Note: The following is shared from the latest issue of Esports and the Law, a publication for which the author serves as academic editor.) By Jeffrey Levine, JD, PhD – Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Sport Business Esport Business Minor Lead, Drexel University The League of Legends Pro League’s (LPL) lifetime ban of Yang “naiyou” Zi-Jian is one of the more significant recent competitive-integrity sanctions in professional esports. Naiyou, a jungler for Top Esports