Laotian Times and AFP – The eSports competitions at the 33rd Southeast Asia (SEA) Games in Thailand have drawn widespread regional attention, marked by a historic silver medal win for Laos and a separate controversy involving the host nation.
The Lao women’s team secured the country’s first-ever silver medal in an international esports competition after finishing second in the Arena of Valor women’s team event. The result marked a new milestone for Laos’ eSports sector.
The achievement came during a high-profile tournament that has also faced scrutiny after a Thai esports player competing in the same event was expelled for cheating, the host’s eSports federation said on 16 December, leading to her whole team pulling out.
Thai gamer Warasin Naphat “committed an offence… by using unauthorised third-party software or hardware modification during Game 1” of a match on 15 Decmber, according to a letter from a SEA Games delegate released by the Thailand Esports Federation (TESF).
“After further investigation, conclusive evidence was found, which led to the imposition of a Personal Penalty resulting in her Expulsion from the entirety of the Esports Competition,” the letter said.
The TESF said Tuesday in a post on Facebook that it accepted the decision by organisers to expel Warasin, and announced the withdrawal of her entire team from the SEA Games.
Esports, or competitive video game tournaments, was included in the SEA Games for the first time in 2019.
This year the event includes competitions in four categories: FC Online, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Free Fire and Arena of Valor, a multiplayer online battle game.
The SEA Games officially opened last week and run until 20 December in Bangkok and the nearby coastal province of Chonburi, with thousands of athletes from Southeast Asian nations competing in events ranging from football and fencing to skateboarding, sailing and combat sports.
But deadly clashes this month between Thailand and Cambodia over a long-standing border dispute have overshadowed the regional sport showdown.
Phnom Penh announced a day after the opening ceremony that it was withdrawing its athletes “for safety reasons”.
Host Thailand leads the overall medal count, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.
© Agence France-Presse
