The Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines cracked the whip on Blacklist International gold laner Kiel “Oheb” Soriano for making an obscene gesture post-match.

Oheb has been suspended for two matches and fined $500 (around P25,000) after flashing the middle finger following their 2-0 win over Omega Esports on Saturday, October 9, in their penultimate series of Season 8.

That means top seed Blacklist will miss Oheb in its final regular season match against Bren Esports on Sunday and its first playoff series.

“MPL PH Operating Committee does not tolerate any form of abusive behavior in the league and we expect our professional players to follow a strict code of conduct,” MPL Philippines said in a statement.

Omega, which acquired its core players from Execration, and Blacklist have developed a rivalry dating back to Season 7.

Blacklist beat out Execration for the Season 7 championship after pulling off an improbable comeback in the grand finals, where it rallied from a 1-3 hole to clinch its first title in team history.

Execration then exacted revenge by trouncing Blacklist for the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup crown.

Their rivalry, though, took a different turn as Execration star Duane “Kelra” Pillas, who is now with Omega, made homophobic remarks about Blacklist duo Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” del Rosario.

Kelra got suspended for two weeks at the start of Season 8 and fined an undisclosed amount.

The animosity reached a tipping point on Saturday as Blacklist swept Omega to nail the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, with 17-year-old Oheb failing to control his emotions.

Oheb apologized afterwards, saying he is willing to accept any sanctions.

“I can assure all of you that I will never do this again. Sorry,” Oheb said in Filipino in their press conference. – Rappler.com