A Valorant Esports committee has issued a six-month suspension to Jay “Sinatraa” Won following an investigation into sexual assault allegations levied at the former Overwatch MVP last March.
The Competitive Operations team, a committee within Valorant Esports responsible for enforcing policy regulations, said the suspension was a result of Won “failing to fully cooperate with the Tournament Operator’s investigation.” This transgression is in direct violation of Rule 8.1 of the Valorant Global Competition Policy, the committee said in the announcement.
The committee detailed how it came to suspend Won. During the course of the investigation, the Competitive Operations team deferred the process of fact-gathering to the authorities after it learned that the matter was brought to law enforcement. As the investigation was underway, the committee said it had “serious concerns with [Won’s] conduct.” There were at least two instances of Won misrepresenting certain facts, making false statements, and failing to cooperate with the investigation “in a way expected of a professional Valorant esports player,” the committee said.
Though it couldn’t “come to a definitive conclusion on the underlying allegations,” the committee found Won’s general lack of cooperation and failure to provide the full audio and video clips as previously promised reason enough to issue the former Overwatch player a six-month suspension.
Won’s suspension, which is said to have begun after his administrative leave on March 10, will continue through September 10. He can return to the esports scene for Last Chance Qualifiers and Champions. But before returning to play, Won is required to complete professional conduct training.
Won responded to the investigation and suspension in a Twitlonger post, further apologizing to his ex and reiterating that he will “keep on trying to improve” himself. He also referenced the audio and video clips the committee asked for, saying his ex “asked me to delete [them] and I honored that.” He recognized that deleting the evidence disrupted the investigation because “[the audio and video were] a key part” of it. Won ended the post saying he will spend the time away from competitive “trying to develop a better set of interpersonal skills and earn back the trust of this community.”
Back in March, Won was accused of sexual assault by an ex. The former partner detailed their nine-month relationship with Won, describing instances of gaslighting and other forms of physical and emotional abuse. Won denied the allegations and apologized for how things ended between them.
While denying the allegations and maintaining the innocence that he “never assaulted” his ex in any way, Won said in a statement that he was “fully cooperating” with the investigation. Rule 8.1 of the Valorant Global Competition Policy states that “team members have a duty to tell the truth in connection with any investigation conducted by or for the Tournament Operator and have a further duty not to obstruct any such investigation, mislead investigators or withhold evidence.”
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