Thailand’s e-sports team found itself in the unwanted spotlight following a scandal surrounding its sudden withdrawal from the Arena of Valor (AOV) women’s team competition on Tuesday.
The announcement of the team’s withdrawal was made by Thailand E-Sports Federation (TESF) president Santi Lohthong during a teleconference call broadcast on giant screens at the venue prior to the crucial repechage match between Thailand and Laos on Tuesday morning.
The decision came after online speculation spiralled overnight that one of the Thai team’s members had been caught cheating while competing against Vietnam.
It was later confirmed that Naphat Warasin, aka “Tokyogurl”, was expelled from the tournament after she was found to have used “unauthorised third-party software” during Game 1 of the match in question, which the Thai team lost 3-0.
The TESF president said the fallout from Naphat’s expulsion left him with no choice but to withdraw the team from the ongoing competition.
“I, Santi Lohthong, in my capacity as the president of the TESF and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, would like to announce the withdrawal of the Thai team from the AOV women’s team competition of the 33rd SEA Games hosted by Thailand.
“We respect the rules, friendship and sportsmanship. What has happened is beyond the responsibility I can take. This is a serious issue. As the host country of the Games, we cannot allow the team’s continued participation,” said Santi.
On the issue, Sports Authority of Thailand vice governor Preecha Lalun said Naphat would likely face further punishment, including a possible requirement to return all of her 10 months’ training allowances.
“I have already discussed the TESF’s decision to withdraw the Thai women’s AOV team, which has now left them ineligible for any prize money.
“As for the punishment, I will discuss it with the federation later. She will definitely be banned from all federation activities. The length of the suspension will depend on the outcome of further investigation.
“We will also seek the return of all training allowances covering the 10-month period from February to November. As for the other athletes, we will consider their cases after further investigation into the incident,” said Preecha.
