Sinatraa has been out of the professional esports scene since his ex-girlfriend, Cleo Hernandez, accused him of alleged sexual assault in early March 2021.
Today, three months into the investigation, Riot Games released their official competitive ruling on the suspension, stating that Jay “Sinatraa” Won had violated Rule 8.1 of the Valorant Global Competition Policy for failing to fully cooperate with the Tournament Operator’s investigation.
Riot Games explains its competitive ruling on Sinatraa’s suspension
After the news broke about Sinatraa’s alleged sexual assault accusations, the Competitive Operations Team partnered with Riot Games to conduct an objective and neutral fact-gathering examination with the goal of evaluating if his behavior was in conflict with the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Global Competition Policy.
“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,” explained Alex Francois, Head of Competitive Operations for Valorant Esports.
“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.” Francois further detailed.
“Sinatraa’s public commitment on social media to provide the full audio and video clip referenced in the original post was never fulfilled.”
At present, the ongoing investigation on the sexual assault allegation by law enforcement will continue.
Sinatraa’s response regarding the investigation
Sinatraa shared in a TwitLonger that he’s spent the last two months of suspension contemplating on how he can be a better person.
“I’ve been reflecting a ton during the downtime and know how much I hurt Cleo emotionally and I’m truly sorry about it. I will learn from my mistakes and keep on trying to improve myself as a person.”
In response to Riot Games’ investigation statement, he explained that he did not possess the video/audio Cleo Hernandez used in her statement.
“After our relationship ended, she had asked me to delete the video and I honored that. I’ve never even imagined a situation like this so when it all happened I didn’t know whether to just spill out my side or not.”
“As we were drafting up an update with the legal PR team we had added that I would provide the video because we genuinely thought that the video would have to be shared in full since it’s a key part in the investigation,” Sinatraa explained.
“However that did not happen and I should not have promised something I could not personally deliver.”
In closing, the pro player shared that he has an additional four months away from competitive play due to the suspension. He desires to use this time to develop a better set of interpersonal skills and earn back the trust of the community.
What happens to Sinatraa now?
For violating Rule 8.1 of the Valorant Global Competitive Policy, he has been suspended for six months, which began on March 10, 2021, since the allegations surfaced.
The suspension ends on September 10, 2021, at the end of the Stage 3 Challenger season, and the final Masters event. He will be eligible to return after the suspension for the Last Chance Qualifiers and Valorant Champions tournament.
Sinatraa will also need to complete Riot’s professional conduct training prior to returning to the professional Valorant scene.
READ MORE: VCT Stage 2 Masters: Schedule, format, qualified teams, prize pool
