Competitive Ruling: Jay “Sinatraa” Won

Jay “Sinatraa” Won has violated Rule 8.1 of the VALORANT Global Competition Policy for failing to fully cooperate with the Tournament Operator’s investigation and will be suspended for six months. He will also be required to complete professional conduct training.

Context

After becoming aware of sexual assault allegations made against Jay “Sinatraa'' Won, VALORANT Esports immediately launched an investigation into the matter. Sexual assault allegations are some of the most serious that can be levvied against an individual and the Competitive Operations Team treats all such claims with the gravity they deserve. To conduct the investigation, the Competitive Operations team partnered with Riot’s investigative team to begin an objective and neutral fact-gathering exercise to evaluate whether Sinatraa’s behavior was in conflict with the VCT Global Competition Policy.

During the course of the fact gathering, the Competitive Operations team was informed that the matter had been referred to law enforcement, so at this juncture we will defer to the authorities to make further investigation into and factual findings related to the allegations.

While the investigation did not come to a definitive conclusion on the underlying allegations, 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 behavior will not be tolerated by VALORANT Esports.

Within the context of a personal relationship, this is an incredibly complicated allegation to investigate and definitively adjudicate. To the extent that additional material information comes to light, from law enforcement or otherwise, the Competitive Operations team reserves the right to reopen the investigation and take further appropriate action.

Ruling

Jay “Sinatraa'' Won has violated Rule 8.1 of the VALORANT Global Competition Policy and will be suspended for six months (which is considered to have begun with his administrative suspension on March 10, 2021), continuing through Sept. 10, 2021 (end of the Stage 3 Challenger season and final Masters event). He will be eligible to return for Last Chance Qualifiers and Champions.

Furthermore, Won is required to complete professional conduct training prior to being able to return to play.

Relevant Rules

Rule 8.1 of the from the VALORANT Global Competition Policy:

8.1. Investigations by the Tournament Operator

The Tournament Operator will have the right to monitor compliance with this Global Policy and the applicable Event-Specific Rules and investigate possible breaches. By agreeing to this Global Policy, each Team Member agrees to cooperate with the Tournament Operator in any internal or external investigation that the Tournament Operator conducts relating to a suspected violation of this Global Policy, the applicable Event-Specific Rules or applicable law. 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.