“I threw my phone away after receiving a message from an unknown number”, — TaiLung shared his version after the “322” ban
A few days after the incident involving LGD Gaming midlaner Santiago TaiLung Olivos Aguero, the player published a detailed statement sharing his version of the events that led to his suspension from The International 2026 and lifetime ban from PGL.
According to TaiLung, the team learned about a suspicious account that had been placing bets on LGD matches. Santiago claims that the information was discovered by a data analyst associated with a betting company. The team was later told that the account had allegedly been betting between $20,000 and $40,000 per match and had a history of betting losses.
After that, according to Aguero, suspicions began to fall on him, and some of his teammates started to distrust him.
One night, Yuma and KJ came into my room and directly asked me if I had anything to do with the situation. I clearly answered them: “No.”
From my point of view, more and more people around me treated me as if I was already guilty.
The player admitted that what was happening had a significant impact on his emotional state. According to him, he felt constant pressure and feared that everything he had achieved could disappear in an instant.
Felipe Astini Astini provided additional information about the accounts used to place suspicious bets. According to him, one of the accounts had the nickname SpicerQQ and was primarily associated with bets on LGD Gaming and PlayTime matches. Large positions were recorded on the account, including more than $100,000 on Team Liquid defeating PlayTime, as well as more than $200,000 on individual maps of LGD matches against Xtreme Gaming and BetBoom Team.
Astini also noted that the account was linked to a Telegram channel with betting predictions and that other accounts were used to place large bets. At the same time, Felipe emphasized that such activity is not direct evidence of match-fixing.
Also, one part of the investigation involved checking his phone, where a conversation with his friend about betting was found. According to TaiLung, the conversation was a joke and had nothing to do with actual betting.
On August 6, LGD Gaming issued a statement saying that after reviewing the information available at the time, no suspicious activity had been found in the matches.
The following day, the organization asked me to hand over my phone for an inspection. During the inspection, they found an old conversation with a friend. It was related to a different tournament that was not connected to my participation with LGD.
In that conversation, my friend was joking about money, and I played along. I admit that continuing such a conversation was a mistake. However, I never accepted any offers or entered into any agreements regarding the matter in question.
The player also spoke about a message he received from an unknown number. According to him, the sender claimed to be his mother and mentioned a certain amount of money. However, the number did not match his mother's actual number, which was saved on his phone.
Santiago stated that, amid the suspicions that had already arisen, the message frightened him greatly. According to him, he acted impulsively and threw away his phone.
TaiLung admitted that this reaction was a mistake and could have increased the suspicions against him. He also apologized to his teammates, saying that he understood how strongly the situation had affected the team.
I did not throw away the phone because I had done something related to these accusations. I reacted impulsively because I was scared, extremely nervous, and felt that everything happening around me was being used against me.
At the end of his statement, Aguero said he was ready to undergo an objective review through the appropriate procedures. He also said he was willing to provide account records, financial documents, and transaction information to determine whether he had engaged in any actions related to the allegations.
It is worth recalling that after TaiLung was suspended, LGD Gaming presented a replacement who will compete at The International 2026. The tournament will take place from 13.08.2026 to 23.08.2026 in Shanghai, China. The competition will feature 16 teams, while the prize pool has already surpassed $2,500,000. You can follow the tournament in our report.
Earlier, Cyberscore shared the community's reaction to the ban incident.
by CyberScore