TaiLung statement regarding 322 investigations
TaiLung has now broken his silence. He posted a long statement on Facebook, in Spanish, laying out his side: the betting account LGD flagged, the phone he threw during the investigation, the message from an unknown number claiming to be his mother, and his refusal to quietly resign. He denies any involvement in match-fixing and is publicly demanding that LGD and PGL show their evidence.
We've translated the full statement below. Read it in his own words first — analysis comes after.
TaiLung
Santiago Olivos Agüero Gustavo
Mid
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First of all, I want to apologize for any inconvenience and worry this whole situation may have caused. Until now I had preferred to stay silent, but I feel it's necessary to publicly explain, from my perspective, what I've gone through over these past few days.
Recently, the team was informed of a situation involving bets placed on LGD's matches. According to what we were told, a data analyst connected to a betting house had detected an account placing bets on our games.
After learning about this, I tried to get more information to understand what was happening. I was later given information that this account was supposedly betting between 20,000 and 40,000 per match. I was also told that its activity wasn't limited to our games alone, and that it recorded numerous losing bets.
From that moment on, I felt that everything changed.
The suspicion began to point toward me, and some of my teammates started to distrust me. I didn't understand why I was being linked to something so serious, or what evidence existed against me.
One night, while I was resting, Yuma and KJ came into my room and asked me directly whether I had anything to do with this situation. I clearly told them no.
From my perspective, I felt that more and more people around me were treating me as if I were already guilty, before I could even understand what I was being accused of or defend myself.
I want to be honest: all of this started to affect me enormously. I felt singled out, pressured, and constantly under suspicion. I had never had to face a situation of this magnitude, and I admit that, at that moment, I may not have had the maturity or the emotional preparation needed to know how to react properly under so much pressure. I felt that everything I had worked for could disappear at any moment.
On August 6, LGD published a statement indicating that, after reviewing the information available up to that point, no suspicious conduct had been found in the matches nor any other abnormal elements.
On August 7, LGD asked me to hand over my phone so they could examine it. I agreed because I was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
During that examination they found an old Discord conversation with a friend, dating back to the Zeinternacional period — a completely different tournament, unrelated to my competitive participation with LGD.
In that conversation, a friend was joking with me about money and I played along with the joke. I acknowledge that it was a mistake to continue a conversation of that kind, and I fully understand that, taken out of context, it could create a negative impression.
However, I never accepted any proposal nor reached any agreement related to what was being discussed.
While all of this was happening, I received a message that I consider essential to clarify.
The message came from an unknown number. The person who wrote it claimed to be my mother and mentioned a sum of money.
That number was not my mother's number.
I already had my mother's real number saved in my phone, and it was different. Both the person examining my phone and the other people present could verify at that very moment that the message came from an unknown number.
I also didn't know who was really behind that number.
This whole situation, on top of the fact that I already felt interrogated and under suspicion, made me extremely nervous. When that message appeared, I felt even more afraid that it would immediately be interpreted as something against me.
The pressure I felt at that moment was enormous. My mind went blank and I reacted impulsively: I grabbed my phone and threw it.
I want to take responsibility for that reaction. It was a mistake and I fully understand that it may have increased the suspicions toward me even more.
I also want to sincerely apologize to my teammates for my behavior at that moment. I know this whole situation affected them too, and that my reaction may have caused them even more worry and distrust.
But I want to make clear a distinction that I consider fundamental:
Having reacted badly under a situation of fear and pressure does not mean that I participated in betting, match-fixing, or any other improper conduct.
I didn't throw my phone because I had done something related to those accusations. I reacted impulsively because I was scared, extremely nervous, and felt that everything happening around me was being used to point the finger at me.
If these events created suspicion, I am willing to have everything verified objectively through the appropriate procedures. If necessary, I am also willing to have my accounts and financial records reviewed — the relevant movements to determine whether there really is any transaction related to the amounts mentioned.
I have no objection to the facts being investigated. On the contrary: I want them to be investigated to the very end.
The only thing I ask is that any conclusion be based on verifiable evidence, and not solely on interpretations, suspicions, or isolated facts.
After all of this, I was removed from the team. Subsequently, people from LGD proposed that I resign voluntarily and withdraw from participating in The International; otherwise, as I was told, the matter would continue to be investigated thoroughly.
I refused.
I refused because I have principles and values. Since I started playing Dota, I have never thought about anything other than competing and winning it all. I have dedicated an enormous part of my life to this game with the goal of getting as far as possible, and it would never make sense for me to throw all that effort away by doing something that goes against everything I've worked for.
That's why, if there were doubts about me, I preferred that everything be investigated to the end rather than resign voluntarily and accept a situation I didn't agree with.
Moreover, we had earned the qualification to TI together and this was going to be my first The International. I didn't want to abandon, in that way, an opportunity I had worked so hard for.
However, the next day I was informed that PGL had suspended me and that I would no longer be able to participate in TI.
Since then, this whole situation has affected me deeply. I still have no answers, and I've watched people I considered my friends come to see me as a type of person that I myself detest and could never be.
Not only did I lose the chance to play my first The International. I've also seen how my name, my reputation, and my career have become publicly associated with extremely serious accusations.
Since then I've received a lot of criticism and accusations, even from people I considered friends or close acquaintances who, at the time, would come to me for help or simply to share and interact with me in various settings.
What I find hardest to understand is that so many opinions and accusations have formed when, to this day, it hasn't even been publicly explained what specific conduct I'm being blamed for, nor what evidence exists against me. All that's being generated is morbid curiosity around a person who has always tried to do right by others.
Many people are drawing conclusions based on rumors and secondhand versions without really knowing what happened.
That's why I think it's important to separate rumors from facts. I'm still waiting to learn exactly what I'm being accused of and what evidence a decision that can so seriously affect my career and reputation is based on.
I want to make something very clear: in every game I played, my goal was always to win.
I know some people may review our defeats and draw conclusions from certain plays. We lost matches against teams like BetBoom, but Dota 2 is an extremely complex and collective game. There were individual mistakes, buyback decisions, drafts, and many other situations that can be analyzed objectively through the replays.
That's why I invite everyone to review all of my matches and my performance, not just one isolated play.
For all of this, I want to publicly ask a question to LGD and PGL:
What exactly is the reason for my suspension?
If there is concrete evidence against me, I want to know exactly what I'm being accused of, to see that evidence, and to have the opportunity to respond properly. If it is demonstrated through verifiable evidence that I participated in any conduct of this kind, I will accept the consequences that follow, even a permanent ban from all competition. But if there is no evidence proving these accusations, I believe the least I deserve is public acknowledgment and the corresponding apology.
If the decision was made based on other factors, I also want to know what they were.
I understand that I may ultimately not be able to participate in The International. But at this point, this goes far beyond playing or not playing a tournament.
An accusation of this severity can affect my career, my reputation, and my future for years. And this whole situation has also affected me deeply on a personal level.
I'm not asking anyone to simply believe my version.
I'm not asking for any evidence to be ignored.
And I'm not asking for special treatment.
I am willing to cooperate with any serious and transparent investigation and to provide the necessary information through the appropriate procedures.
What I am asking for is clarity: to know exactly what I'm being accused of, to see the evidence that accusation is based on, and to have a fair opportunity to respond and defend myself, as anyone should be able to do. I believe it's fundamental that someone not be treated as guilty before the facts and the evidence allow reaching that conclusion.
Finally, I want to once again apologize to my teammates.
I know my absence at TI has caused them problems and that this whole situation has affected them too. I sincerely regret that they've had to go through this. I consider them a second family and I would never do anything to harm them.
Regardless of what happens to me and the final outcome of this situation, I sincerely hope things go well for them at The International and that they can achieve a good result.
After everything that's happened, I only hope to have the chance to clear up the facts and defend myself fairly.
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There's a lot here that deserves a closer look: the timeline against LGD's own August 6 "nothing suspicious" statement, the losses to BetBoom Team he invites people to re-examine, the individual plays already circulating in the community, and what a "competitive integrity" ruling with no disclosed evidence means for the scene going forward. I will be putting together a full investigation into this matter—breaking down the claims, the counterclaims, and the games themselves.
