LGD Gaming's Santiago "TaiLung" Aguero Gustavo has been banned from The International 15 and from all future PGL events for life, days before the tournament begins. The 17-year-old Peruvian was heavily suspected of competitive integrity breaches, and his own team reportedly reported him, Esports Insider reported in an interview with Brazilian coach Filipe "Astini" Ribeiro.
Astini, who took PARIVISION to a top-three finish at TI14 last year and has coached widely in South America, said he had barely interacted with TaiLung directly, recalling only a possible 30-minute session years ago with a team containing either TaiLung, then playing as Osito, or Maximo "Wits" Orozco Alza. He rejected the argument circulating in the community that a teenager could not have understood the consequences.
This 'was just a kid' narrative is a very weak argument to defend criminals.
He pointed to the bans handed to prominent Peruvian streamers for match-fixing as evidence that players know what happens when they are caught, and said the calculation is that they will not be. Salaries are not the problem, in his account: Peruvian players on squads such as LGD Gaming and PlayTime are paid in US dollars, which goes far in the region. Astini said the culture is short-term, that match-fixing always pays more, and that players are drawn in at tier two and tier three where the money is thin, then stay.
The ban follows the scandal at the Esports World Cup last month involving PlayTime's Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera and Juan "Vintage" Angulo.
Cheating in qualifiers
Astini said match-fixing is not the region's only problem. He described Peruvian players using cheats in open qualifiers, including North American ones, to reach closed qualifiers, where bookmakers open betting markets on matches. He cited a recent ESIC ban wave against Peruvian scripters and hackers as support for the claim. Team Falcons coach Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling has suspected TaiLung of using scripts or a macro after watching him toggle Armlet of Mordiggian on Huskar almost perfectly; Astini said he had no final opinion on that, but called it very likely.
Both Astini and Esports Insider named Wits, PlayTime's 18-year-old carry who played alongside both banned players, as the region's remaining hope. Wits won Games of the Future 2026, a million-dollar tournament, after the pair were caught. Astini argued that punishing the guilty would open space for new talent and benefit both South and North America in the long run. LGD Gaming will represent South America at TI15.
