Jake Sin, Head of VALORANT Esports Pacific, has addressed recent allegations surrounding the competitive integrity of VCT Pacific, which have been raised by players and coaches.
He confirmed that Riot Games has been investigating the matter since the concerns were first brought to light.
“We take these claims very seriously, as they pertain to the competitive integrity of our league, so we are investigating them as comprehensively as possible,” Sin stated on X (Twitter). “While I understand it can be frustrating not to see immediate action, I ask for your patience as we examine the situation thoroughly.”
He also emphasised that any potential breaches should be reported directly to Riot Games with “substantiated evidence.”
“It’s incredibly important to us that our members feel comfortable and safe raising concerns,” Sin added. “However, it’s equally important that any assertions of competitive integrity breaches are reported directly to league officials with substantiated evidence so we can collaborate closely to address them effectively and quickly.”
What Competitive Integrity Concerns Were Raised?
The concerns began following the VCT Pacific Kickoff Lower Final between RRQ and Paper Rex. After the match concluded, RRQ player Maksim ‘Jemkin‘ Batorov spoke out about multiple issues regarding tournament admins and the implementation of rules.
“I feel like we need to address how admins work in this Kickoff. For example, in our first game [Upper Final], Nongshim was 18 minutes late, and there were no penalties,” he said.
Jemkin also talked about T1 allegedly breaking rules without facing any penalties.
“I don’t care if I’m not allowed to say it, but they [T1] always smoke or vape in the toilets. Players never get penalties, but if someone from us goes to smoke somewhere, we will always get penalised for that,” he added.
Furthermore, according to him, Paper Rex players were allowed to change their agent compositions twice during the Lower Final.
“The first time they mispicked an agent, and the second time they [PRX] forgot to unlock Veto. Before that, every game, admins told us if we didn’t unlock Veto, it was always our fault, and we would get a penalty,” Jemkin explained.
He then suggested that some teams are allegedly receiving special treatment.
“Sometimes the nepotism, or I don’t know the word, it’s a little bit crazy toward Korean teams and more popular teams,” Jemkin concluded.
The Russian player also publicly asked Jake Sin ‘to adjust the headsets’, claiming players could hear Korean casters word-for-word during the matches. However, that tweet has since been deleted.
FrosT’s Take on the Situation
The discussion was fueled once again after the topic was raised during Episode 50 of Andrej ‘babybay‘ Francisty’s SpikeTalk, featuring Global Esports head coach Hector ‘FrosT‘ Rosario.
FrosT explained that when Tyson ‘TenZ‘ Ngo or Nikita ‘Derke‘ Sirmitev raise a concern, their respective leagues (VCT Americas and VCT EMEA) respond very differently compared to how VCT Pacific handled the situation.
“Instead of listening to a player that isn’t usually vocal and is vocalising his frustration, they go, ‘take that tweet down, sweep it under the rug,’” FrosT said. “This thing is Mickey Mouse, and I don’t even care to fight it anymore.”
Talking about the smoking allegations, FrosT revealed that RRQ’s former head coach Martin ‘Ewok‘ van der Walt had previously been penalised for the same.
“T1 is very special. Trust me when I say T1 is very special. The preference here for T1 is insane,” he said.
During the interview, a picture of Ko ‘Sylvan‘ Young-sub not wearing his headset properly on stage was pulled up, which could potentially result in players hearing caster callouts.
“It is in so many different games, and I can even show more pictures. I don’t even care,” FrosT added.
Multiple other issues were brought up during the discussion, such as coaches being able to see the crowd, rigged group draws, and admins protecting certain teams.
With multiple concerns raised in VCT Pacific, Jake Sin’s response to the allegations seemingly aimed to provide clarification to teams and fans alike ahead of Stage 1 starting on April 3rd.
