Yesterday, Riot Games announced that a team participating in the VALORANT Game Changers event, Team Besties are going to receive an 18-month ban from any sort of VALORANT competition. Here is their announcement:
Team Besties receive 18-month ban – Why?
For any of you that require context, Team Besties first played against team Just Breathe in the Open Qualifiers of the VALORANT Game Changers tournament. They lost both maps (Icebox) 13-8, and (Ascent) 13-5 respectively. Kei, the player in question, went 19/31/9 in the first series. Then, in the following series against Team Invicta, this same Kei (Which probably had the account switched) got a 59/26/12 score. As you can clearly identify, Kei either stepped up big time, or another player was taking part instead of her.
According to rule 7.2.7 by Riot Games:
Playing under another player’s account or Riot ID, or soliciting or inducing someone else to play under another player’s account or Riot ID, is prohibited.
This instantly prompted the Tournament Operators to monitor and investigate the situation. Team Besties did not cooperate with regards to the investigation, and also denied scheduling for interviews with Riot. The 7.2.7 ruling violation was already a solid year worthy ban, but the non-cooperation has extended it to an additional 6 months.
Here’s a list of all banned players:
- Jenna “koi” Tang
- Katie “kateuuu” Tran
- Mia “kei” Leong
- Jasmine “memrice” Huynh
- Jennifer “wetboosy” Li
- Bella “soju” Rierad
It’s sad to see that these things are still happening in modern esports. Thankfully, Riot Games have not been light with their banning when it comes to ruling violations, and this will hopefully motivate others to do the right thing in the future!
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