Valorant pro claims he was racially abused at VCT tournament

Valorant pro Ali ‘Swerl’ Kobraee claimed on Twitter that he was racially abused at a VCT tournament after people with shirts of an opposing team called him a monkey and made animal noises during a match.

Swerl, who competes for Chinese side RNG, claims that people seemingly connected to Monarch Effect called him a monkey and made monkey sounds during the Valorant Champions China Qualifier. The Iranian said he brought up the incident with a tournament official and claimed that an investigation is underway.

“After Map 2 (Haven), a couple of players or managers called me houzi (monkey) in the bathroom. They were wearing ME shirts and in the following map continued to make monkey noises,” Swerl wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

RNG lost to Monarch Effect 2-1 in their first-round series and were eliminated from the tournament. Swerl’s teammate, ‘xiaonuo,’ confirmed the abuse in a tweet that has also been deleted.

Neither RNG, Monarch Effect, nor Riot Games have yet to comment on the situation at the time of writing. Swerl said that he deleted his initial tweet because of an “ongoing investigation” into his allegations.

“I know what I heard,” he said. “But rules are rules.”

Valorant pro alleges he was racially abused at VCT tournament

Swerl is a Valorant pro who started his career in 2020 in Oceania, placing top four at First Strike Oceania with Mindfreak that year. He began competing in China with RNG in early 2023 and has been the squad’s primary Duelist player ever since.

Twelve teams are competing in the Chinese last-chance qualifier for Valorant Champions 2023, with three spots on the line. Monarch Effect will move on to face Bilibili Gaming in the next round of the tournament.