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The Sinatraa saga has reached a crucial breaking point after Riot Games released a statement announcing that they’ll be banning the player for 6 months from participating in any competitive Valorant event.
Jay “sinatraa” Won is an accomplished Valorant player, and a former Overwatch star, who was recently involved in an incident where he was accused of misconduct by his former girlfriend. The evidence was damning, and an investigation was launched to get to the bottom of the situation. Immediately, sinatraa was suspended from Sentinels, the top NA Valorant team, who were warming up for their first Masters event at that time.
Needless to say, this news does not bode well for sinatraa. Riot have stated that the ban was issued due to sinatraa’s lack of cooperation, and when your suspension turns into a lengthy ban, that’s cause for real concern. Let’s jump right into the story, dive deeper into the Riot post, and analyse the response from sinatraa.
The investigation is still in progress
While this news certainly means that we won’t be seeing sinatraa play in Valorant Champions Tour for a long time, it does not mean that the investigation into his alleged misconduct is over.
As stated by Riot, they were involved in the investigation from the beginning, along with the Competitive Operations Team. A situation of this magnitude required a thorough investigation, and sinatraa claimed that he would fully cooperate and provide evidence of his own that would back up his claims. Law enforcement was also involved, so everyone was taking the situation very seriously.
However, according to Riot, the Competitive Operations Team had serious concerns about sinatraa’s conduct during the investigation. They came to the conclusion that he misrepresented certain facts and provided false statements, and wouldn’t cooperate in a manner expected of a professional Valorant player.
Apparently, sinatraa also claimed that he would provide evidence of his own, namely the audio and video clip that was mentioned in the original post by his ex-girlfriend. He failed to do so, and as a result, he was banned for 6 months.
Riot wrote the following:
“Jay “Sinatraa” Won has violated Rule 8.1 of the VALORANT Global Competition Policy and will be suspended for six months (which is considered to have begun with his administrative suspension on March 10, 2021), continuing through Sept. 10, 2021 (end of the Stage 3 Challenger season and final Masters event). He will be eligible to return for Last Chance Qualifiers and Champions.”
He will be able to return just in time to play at the very end of Valorant Champions Tour, but even then, he’ll first be forced to complete the professional conduct training.
Sinatraa’s response
The news from Riot came out of nowhere, and after a brief shock, everyone turned towards sinatraa in anticipation of his response. And the response came shortly after.
In a TwitLonger post, sinatraa addresses the situation stating the following:
“I’ve been reflecting a ton during the downtime and know how much I hurt Cleo emotionally and I’m truly sorry about it. I will learn from my mistakes and keep on trying to improve myself as a person.”
He’s feeling remorseful and feels he must work on improving himself. He then addresses the Riot’s investigation statement, saying that he doesn’t actually possess the video that was used in the original statement by his ex-girlfriend. According to sinatraa, he was asked to delete the video after the relationship fell apart, and he honored that.
This was the part that played a key role in Riot’s decision to ban sinatraa. He has sought legal help, so the investigation will continue on and it will probably take more time before we have all the information and the final verdict is out.
What does this mean for Sentinels?
We can’t rule sinatraa out completely, but it’s not looking good. To make matters worse for him, the replacement that followed his suspension was a dream come true for the team. They got TenZ, who’s arguably the best Valorant player at the moment, with some monster carry potential as well as great team play skills.
Sentinels were extending his loan period as they continued competing in the Valorant Champions Tour – and they were doing great. This 6-month ban could very well seal the deal for both of these players, solidifying TenZ permanently as one of the main 5 of the Sentinels roster, while leaving sinatraa on the bench.
These allegations carry a lot of weight, and an investigation of this magnitude also invites a lot of unwanted attention to Sentinels. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they decided to cut ties with sinatraa, but we don’t know that yet. They might be patient and show solidarity for their teammate, and wait out until the investigation is completely finished and all the facts are out.
All in all, this has been a wild ride for everyone involved in this story. Sinatraa will be missing a lot of Valorant Champions Tour, which is the biggest and most hyped event in Valorant, if not all of esports, right now. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next, but things are looking kind of grim.
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