LPL player Ping ‘xiaolaohu’ Xiaohu was been kicked from FunPlus Phoenix after a physical altercation occurred during practice. Though pressure from fans and testimony from teammates ultimately brought him back to the team, there’s still tension between the players and management.
As revealed by xiaolaohu in a Weibo post, during scrims he got into an argument with FPX’s assistant coach, Chen ‘Mouse’ Yuhao, after being questioned about a play he made. As their argument continued, their manager Cao ‘Denny’ Feng intervened.
According to xiaoluhu, translated by X user tttttyuc, when he told Denny to “shut up”, Denny “stood up, pushed my chest, pointed his finger at my face and asked, ‘who are you telling to shut up’, demanding me to leave.
“I was afraid he might hit me so I warned him to watch his hand. He then put his hand down but started yelling into my face, repeating, ‘Who are you asking to shut up’ and telling me to get out.”
FPX Xiaolaohu said that he won't play this split. He got into an argument with the coach but the manager interrupted and physically hit him, yelling in his face, and telling him to leave. Haoye (former FPX jug) said he already got kicked out of the house Full translation⬇️ pic.twitter.com/cnA3Faj8di
— Yuuu (@tttttyuc) June 8, 2024
After the fight, xiaolaohu left the FPX building, telling Denny to release him from his contract, packing up his belongings from the team dorm, and staying the night at a former teammate’s place.
FPX’s management talked with the rest of the team, and a teammate of xiaolaohu claimed they tried to “emotionally manipulate” them.
They also revealed Denny and management allegedly wanted to “pursue legal actions” against xiaolaohu and place a fine on him for breaking his contract.
However, teammates Yang ‘Care’ Jie and Cai ‘Milkyway‘ Zijun said they were willing to be witnesses to what happened during the altercation. Milkyway also said that if xiaolaohu was punished, he would not play.
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FPX Care was asked to talk to the management and they said they will pursue legal actions and ask Xiaolaohu to think about the fine for breaking the contract. They also tried to emotionally manipulate him but Milkyway and Care are willing to be his witnesses. pic.twitter.com/mg0dBJG31e
— Yuuu (@tttttyuc) June 8, 2024
Several hours after the fight was made public, FPX made a statement on the issue, saying it was resolved between xiaolaohu and Denny.
“As a player, xiaolaohu should not have offended his direct supervisor when the manager intervened,” FPX’s statement reads. “Similarly, Denny, as a manager, should not have engaged in physical assault or made the immature decision to send the player home during the communications process.”
Despite the issue being resolved, fans and onlookers were still baffled by FPX’s manager holding his position after being physically aggressive with a player.
“I feel in the West if you put your hands on a player in an aggressive manner as a General Manager that is the quickest way to get fired no?,” questioned Fnatic’s Valorant team manager Cojo.
“They are making it look like xiaolaohu should be grateful that they even took him back,” a fan remarked on the situation.
xiaolaohu has a history of being a hard carry player for this team. He was even subbed in a short time after the drama when TheNiu, his replacement, bombed in game 1 on their June 10 match.
