Sinatraa responds to Valorant suspension after failing to cooperate in sexual assault investigation

Riot Games has suspended Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won six months from competing in Valorant after he failed to fully cooperate in the tournament organizer’s investigation of sexual assault allegations.

While Riot’s investigation team has yet to conclude their findings into the matter, they determined that Sinatraa had, on at least two occasions, “misrepresented certain facts, made false statements, and did not cooperate with the investigation in a way expected of a professional VALORANT esports player.”

Throughout the investigation, Riot “had serious concerns with Sinatraa’s conduct,” specifically that the player had not gone through with his commitment to providing full audio and video clip pertaining to the allegations.

Riot found this to be in direct violation of Rule 8.1 in the VALORANT Global Competition Policy, resulting in the six-month ban. The suspension will be retroactive to March 10, 2021, and will last through September 10.

Sinatraa will be ineligible to play through the end of Stage 3 Challenger season as well as the final Masters event. He will be available to return for the Last Chance Qualifiers and Champions even in December.

In order to return to pro play, the former Overwatch League MVP will have to complete professional conduct training before a team can field him.

• Read more: Sinatraa returning to Twitch “no matter what” but Valorant comeback still in doubt

During Riot’s investigation, they found law enforcement was also involved in the case, and will now defer the investigation and fact-finding to them. Riot reiterated their right to reopen their investigation and possibly levy more action against Sinatraa, should law enforcement or the investigation reveal new details in the future.

Sinatraa responds to Riot’s Valorant suspension

Moments after Riot dealt Sinatraa’s suspension for failing to comply with the investigation, the player responded to his case’s development.

• Read more: Sinatraa’s ex deletes post with “additional claims” and police report details

Sinatraa now says he does not have the audio or video files that ex-girlfriend Cleo used in her statement. Per Cleo’s request, he had deleted the video after their relationship had concluded.

“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.”

Law enforcement will now head up the investigation into the sexual assault allegations levied against Sinatraa.