Thai esports athlete expelled from SEA Games for cheating during Arena of Valor match

SINGAPORE: Thai esports athlete Naphat Warasin has been expelled from the ongoing 33rd SEA Games in Thailand after she was found to have cheated during an Arena of Valor women's team match.

Naphat, known in the Thai gaming community as "Tokyogurl", committed the offence during the team match between Thailand and Vietnam on Monday (Dec 15).

The 24-year-old had used "unauthorised third-party software or hardware modification" during the first game of the match, the SEA Games' esports technical delegate said in a letter published on Facebook and addressed to Thailand's National Olympic Committee on Monday.

It added that conclusive evidence was found after further investigation, warranting her expulsion from the esports competition and that the decision was final. Naphat had already drawn online flak during the match for showing a vulgar hand sign during the livestream.

In a Facebook statement on Tuesday, the Thailand Esports Federation (TESF) said it accepted the ruling and stressed the importance of fair play. 

The federation added that it will conduct an internal investigation, and improve the ethical and technical standards expected of its esports athletes to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Thai media reported that game publisher Garena also imposed a lifetime Games ban on Naphat, while her talent agency terminated her contract.  

The entire Thai women's Arena of Valor team subsequently withdrew from the Games to show accountability, local news outlets added.

Naphat deleted her TikTok and Facebook accounts following her expulsion from the Games.

Arena of Valor is a multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA), with players battling in teams of five and choosing characters to engage in strategic gameplay.

The Vietnamese women's