Leagues and organizations have been attempting for years to obtain acceptance and recognition as serious competitors in the gaming and sports marketplaces.
Keeping up with conventional sports that have been around for decades is not easy, especially when certain individuals and their irresponsible behaviour degrade the name of the entire Esports community.
While traditional sports have to deal with athletes using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), the Esports community has to deal with a different issue: in-game cheaters. Despite the fact that cheating gets you disqualified from tournaments, losing sponsors, and losing respect from the fans, some players still go over the board in an attempt to break the rules.
FIRST OFFICIAL BAN IN VCTÂ
Riot Games made a strong move in their anti-cheating practice by officially banning the first player from the VCT tournament circuit – Tất Cẩm “Nomsenpai” Khôn, a professional Valorant player from Vietnam.
The ban is supposed to be 1 year long, resulting in Nomsenpai’s absence from all of their tournaments until January 26, 2023. This ban will be a big hit on Vietnamese’s career, considering that activity is one of the essential aspects when climbing the professional ladder.
Unfortunately, the consequences of Nomsenpai’s actions were not limited to his demise only, but the team he is a part of – “Ice Cee Jay Too” got disqualified from the tournament as well. It is yet to be seen what will be his teammates’ reaction, and will he keep the spot on the roster in times to come.
During the early stages of the match, nothing suggested that Nomsenpai or his teammates were doing something unethical. At the time of the incident, the score was 12-9 in their favor, but things were soon about to be changed.
The problem arose when Nomsenpai perfectly pointed his crosshair towards an opponent that he was physically unable to see due to the wall in front of him. In addition to that, the ongoing conversation he had with one of the teammates points towards him knowing the exact position of his enemy, which was enough evidence for the tournament’s officials to show him the exit.
NOW WHAT? THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF CHEATING PLAYERS
It is yet to be seen how big of an impact the situation will have on Nomsenpai’s career. Besides losing the community’s respect for doing such unethical stuff, a big ban like this could potentially mean the decline of one’s career.
Riot has been very clear about having zero tolerance for cases like these, and perhaps this might be the last time we see Nomsenpai in one of their competitions. One thing is sure, making an example out of a player could be a turning point for incentivizing others to stop trying to pull similar stunts, thus resulting in much more fair competitions.
