Professional Valorant player Jay “Sinatraa” Won has been suspended for six months by Riot Games for “failing to fully cooperate” with an ongoing investigation into an allegation of sexual assault. The investigation stems from an allegation dating back to March of this year, when Won was accused of sexual abuse by a former girlfriend, which was supported by recordings and screenshots of messages. At the time, Won was indefinitely suspended by both Riot, which develops Valorant and organizes most online competitions, and Sentinels, the team for which he plays.
According to Riot, this latest suspension is related to Won’s behavior during the investigation. In a statement, the company said:
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.
Won began competing in Valorant last year but rose to prominence in the Overwatch League, where he was named MVP in 2019 — though OWL began offering refunds on his in-game MVP skin following the allegations in March.
As for the initial allegation of sexual assault, Riot said that because the matter has been referred to law enforcement, “at this juncture we will defer to the authorities to make further investigation into and factual findings related to the allegations.” Riot added that “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.”
