Valorant professional player Jay 'Sinatraa' Won, who was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend earlier this year, has been suspended from competitive play for six months. However, the suspension was not in response to the assault allegation itself, but for failing to fully cooperate with Riot's investigation into the matter, which violates the requirements of Valorant's global competition policy.

Riot opened an investigation in March after Cleo Hernandez, who had been dating Wong for nine months, shared detailed allegations of physical assault and emotional abuse. The next day, Wong denied "assaulting her" and said the relationship was "unhealthy for both of us." He also promised to cooperate fully with the investigation, specifically stating that he would submit the audio and video clips (recorded with consent) of the two having sex that Hernandez referenced in her allegations.

However, in announcing today's conflict verdict, Riot said Wong has so far failed to do so, which is part of the reason the six-month suspension was imposed.

"While the investigation did not reach a definitive conclusion about the underlying allegations, the competition management team had serious concerns about Sinatra's conduct during the course of the investigation. On at least two occasions, Sinatraa was determined to have misrepresented certain facts, made false statements, and failed to cooperate with the investigation in a manner expected of a professional valorant esports player."

"Notably, Sinatraa's social media commitment to provide the complete audio and video clips referenced in his initial post was not fulfilled. Cooperation with such an investigation is paramount, especially in the case of such serious allegations of sexual assault. Such behavior will not be tolerated by Valorant Esports."

The specific rule in question, "8.1 - Investigation by Tournament Operator," states:

"The tournament operator reserves the right to monitor compliance with this Global Policy and applicable event specific rules and investigate possible violations. By agreeing to this Global Policy, each team member agrees to cooperate with any internal or external investigation conducted by the tournament operator regarding any suspected violation of this Global Policy, applicable event-specific rules, or applicable law. Team members are obligated to tell the truth in connection with any investigation conducted by or on behalf of the convention operator, and further are obligated not to impede such investigation, deceive investigators, or conceal evidence.

As for the allegations themselves, Riot has so far reached no conclusions. The company noted that the allegations are "incredibly complex to investigate and determine definitively," but that the police are currently investigating. If the results of that investigation (or anything else) reveal "additional material information," Riot "reserves the right to reopen the investigation and take further appropriate action."

After the announcement of the suspension, Wong issued a statement saying that he did not actually have the audio and video clips he had promised to turn over to investigators.

"When we were working with the legal PR team on the update, we genuinely thought we had to share the video in full because it was such an important part of the investigation," he added. But it didn't happen and we shouldn't have promised something we couldn't personally provide."

It is unclear which "legal public relations team" Wong is referring to, or why he promised to share the recording if he did not have it in the first place.

Wong was initially given an "administrative suspension" by Riot at the start of the investigation on March 10. Barring any new developments following this decision, he will be eligible to return to the Barolant game on September 10, but will need to complete "Professional Behavior Training" before he can do so. We have contacted his team, the Los Angeles Sentinels, for more information and will update if we hear back.