Thailand's esports scene has been rocked after an investigation concluded Warasin “Tokyogurl” Naraphat used unauthorized software that allowed someone to play in an Arena of Valor tournament in her place.
According to the Thailand Esports Federation, during a match against Vietnam, Jomkhon "Givemeakiss" Phumsinin said Tokyogurl asked to borrow a teammate's device. She said her own phone lacked an Internet connection.
Tokyogurl was constantly tapping the phone and not making eye contact with her teammates, prompting both players and viewers watching on livestream to suspect something was amiss. Givemeakiss said the team had been suspicious of Tokyogurl for a couple of days but didn't have any hard evidence.
The investigation revealed Tokyogurl was the only player cheating on her team, but the remaining players unanimously agreed to withdraw the entire team. They were leading Laos 1-0 in the loser's bracket, so the squad still had a path to a gold medal. The team and the TESF agreed that was the best way to preserve the tourney's integrity.
Garena, Arena of Valor's publisher, has announced Tokyogurl is banned from all of its events. Her pro team, TALON, has voided her contract and the TESF has issued her a lifetime ban from its tournaments.
Even more embarrassing is that the nefarious tactics didn't lead to a win. They still lost 0-3 to Vietnam in the match in question.
TESF President Santi Lothong discussed the scandal in a recent YouTube livestream.
"Cheating and losing, it is truly shameful," he said.
Tokyogurl has denied all the allegations against her, and also explained the middle finger she gave while being escorted out of the event.
"If I cheated, I would have won the match against Vietnam," she said in a written statement. "Nobody understood what was happening. I panicked, fainted and was taken straight to the hospital. Only when I regained consciousness could I use my phone."
As far as the middle finger seen round the world, Tokyogurl said that was a joke directed at one of her teammates, not at fans or officials. In any case, it doesn't look like she'll be delivering any gestures in esports arenas any time soon.