Jay 'Sinatraa' Won, until a few months ago, was just known as an incredibly talented (and pretty toxic) FPS player. After dominating the Overwatch scene, he left to take on Riot's new FPS Valorant where he similarly impressed. Now, though, the pro is facing a ban from esports after an ex-partner accused him of abusive behaviour during their relationship.
The former partner released a statement with video and text evidence against Sinatraa which lead Riot and Valorant Esports to suspend the player until an investigation was complete. Two months on, an internal investigation came to a close as law enforcement was notified of the allegations and evidence. But even without those allegations condemning Sinatraa, Riot and Valorant Esports found cause to continue Sinatraa's suspension due to his actions during their inquiry.
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An announcement on the ruling on Sinatraa was released on the Valorant news blog. The post details how Valorant Esports involved itself in the situation, gathering evidence, and conducting a "neutral fact-gathering exercise" to evaluate Sinatraa's behaviour. Once law enforcement became involved the team halted their own investigation. Despite coming to no conclusion officially on the sexual abuse allegations, Riot and Valorant Esports were still concerned by Sinatraa's behaviour.
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The post says, "the Competitive Operations team had serious concerns with Sinatraa's conduct during the course of the investigation. It was determined that on at least two occasions Sinatraa misrepresented certain facts, made false statements, and did not cooperate with the investigation in a way expected of a professional Valorant esports player. Of note, Sinatraa's public commitment on social media to provide the full audio and video clip referenced in the original post was never fulfilled.
"Cooperation in these investigations is of the utmost importance, especially when the nature of the allegations is as serious as sexual assault. This behaviour will not be tolerated by Valorant Esports." The organisation's conclusion to their investigation led them to suspend Sinatraa for a total of six months (from March 10 onwards). The player will also have to "complete professional conduct training" before being able to return to the scene.
In response to this ruling, Sinatraa has put out his own statement, claiming that the reason he hadn't provided the video was because his ex-partner asked him to delete it after their relationship ended. Additionally, his statement is focused on that he's trying to become "better as a person" with self-reflection.
Law enforcement is now involved and depending on their conclusion, Valorant Esports and Riot will take action on Sinatraa's future in the esports scene.
Topics: Valorant, News, Overwatch, Riot Games
