Professional League Of Legends gamer suspended for streaming abuse

A professional gamer from China has been suspended for 20 months for allegedly live-streaming a domestic abuse incident.

Li "Vasilii" Wei Jun, who plays League of Legends, seemingly broadcast an attack on his girlfriend in October.

In a video online, he is seen throwing furniture around a room while verbally abusing his partner.

However, during an investigation Vasilii and his girlfriend both denied an assault had taken place.

Li was immediately suspended from his team Newbee following the allegation.

He was kicked out of team Newbee for "unprofessional and immature behaviour."

An investigation was then launched by Riot Games who make League of Legends and run the pro-league.

On Wednesday, it was announced he would be banned from the game for 20 months.

The investigation was unable to prove Li had attacked his girlfriend (who's name is not known), but the video evidence showed he made "credible threats of physical violence".

League Of Legends is one of eSports most popular games and in 2016 had an estimated 100 million active home players a month

Li's suspension will begin in January 2018, to coincide with the start of pro-gaming's competitive months, meaning he will miss the next two year's events.

Riot believes this incident was so serious, they punished him more than the maximum suspension recommended for a pro-gamer.

"Whereas making these threats toward another professional player on stage might warrant a 10 month suspension, physical intimidation and threats of domestic abuse should be punished much more harshly," they say in a statement.

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In 2016, Li smashed a keyboard before "physically intimidating" a camera operator onstage during a competitive match.

The maximum suspension time for any player found guilty of "extreme misconduct" will also be increased permanently after this incident to a potential indefinite suspension.

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