Arena of Valor SEA Games cheating scandal
2025 esports cheating scandal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At the Arena of Valor (AoV) women's tournament of the 2025 SEA Games, Thai esports athlete Naphat "Tokyogurl" Warasin was found to have cheated causing the whole Thailand AoV team to withdraw. During Thailand's match against Vietnam on 15 December 2025, Naphat was caught trying to download a third party application which would enable her accomplice Kong Sutprom to play in her behalf. The pair were convicted of crimes on 17 March 2026.
| Date | December 15, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Sala Phra Kieo, Chulalongkorn University |
| Location | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Type | Cheating scandal in esports |
| Perpetrator | Naphat "Tokyogurl" Warasin Kong "Cheerio" Sutprom |
| Arrests | 4 February 2026 (both later released on bail after conviction pending appeal) |
| Accused | 6 February 2026 |
| Convicted | 17 March 2026 |
| Sentence | 3 months |
Background
Tournament
Esports has been contested as a medal event alongside traditional sports at the SEA Games since the 2019 edition in the Philippines.[1]
Among the video game titles contested at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand is Arena of Valor (AoV) which is commonly known in the host country as Realm of Valor (RoV). The game involves 5 versus 5 team battles, with players selecting "heroes" or characters interacting in varied maps. The cheating scandal occurred during the women's AoV tournament.[2] The tournament was held at the Sala Phra Kieo at the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.[3]
In the group stage, Thailand won its first two fixtures against Timor Leste and Laos before losing to Vietnam.[4]
Thailand roster
| Thailand national esports team – 33rd Southeast Asian Games women's AoV team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Perpetrators
| Tokyogurl and Cheerio | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Name | Naphat Warasin (Tokyogurl) Kong Sutprom (Cheerio) |
| Nationality | Thai |
| Career information | |
| Games | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Playing career | Until 2025 (Tokyogurl) |
| Team history | |
| Until 2025 | Talon TH (Tokyogurl) |
The cheating incident involves Thailand AoV women's teamplayer, Naphat Warasin who is known by her handle "Tokyogurl".[2] She played the role of marksman for the team.[6] Prior to the 2025 SEA Games, Naphat is also part of the professional esports team, Talon TH. She was also a video game streamer.[7] Her accomplice meanwhile was later identified as Kong Sutprom, also known as "Cheerio".[1][8] Naphat is 29 years old while Kong is 23 years old at the time of the incident.[3]
Incident
Cheating was detected during the game one between Thailand and Vietnam on 15 December 2025. The match was paused for an investigation with the referees warned the team about unauthorized use of Discord on a competition device.[6]
Naphat Warasin was expelled from the team due to "unauthorized third-party software or hardware modification". She was also reportedly shown to have flashed the middle finger during a television broadcast of the game.[9][10][11] The violation was contrary to Item 9.4.3 of the Esports Technical Handbook.[12] Thailand lost the series against Vietnam.[13][6]
Her teammates later disclosed that they had become suspicious of Naphat's behavior two days prior, with Naphat reportedly getting angry upon being confronted. The team proceeded with the match and could not act upon the suspicion due to a lack of evidence.[14] After the Vietnam match, Jomkhon "Givemeakiss" Phumsinin reported the incident and disclosed that Naphat asked to borrow a teammate's competition device, claiming her own phone lacked an internet connection. Device sharing needs prior approval and the signature of a coach.[6]
Further details about how Naphat and her accomplice Kong cheated were later revealed during a February 2026 investigation. Naphat disclosed how she shared the login credentials of the competition account to Kong on 14 December, with the Naphat playing as herself during Thailand's match against Timor Leste, and Kong playing on behalf of Naphat for the Vietnamese match.[8]
On the day of the match, Naphat clandestinely brought a second device with Discord installed to swap with the competition device so Kong could play on her behalf. The organizers detected two devices logged into Naphat's competition account, prompting the organizers to disconnect the pair and change the account's password.[8]
| 15 December | Vietnam  |
2 | – | 0 |  Thailand |
Bangkok | ||
| Report | Sala Phra Kieo, Chulalongkorn University | |||||||
Aftermath
Tournament conclusion
The Thailand E-Sports Federation (TESF) accepted Naphat's expulsion and withdrew the entire Thai AoV women's team from the competition on 16 December 2025.[10][13][15] Thailand and Laos were set to play in a repacharge match prior to the withdrawal.[13]
Vietnam eventually won the AoV women's gold medal beating Laos 4–0 in the final.[11]
Reactions
Naphat initially denied allegations of cheating attributing her behavior during the match to being nervous and panicky. She also explained that her finger gesture was playful interaction with another teammate.[14] She maintained if she cheated she would have won the game.[16]
AoV publisher Garena imposed a lifetime ban on Naphat following the incident.[11] Naphat was also removed from her esports team, Talon TH on 16 December 2025.[12] Naphat disabled her social media accounts following the controversy.[14][17]
TESF president Santi Lothong ina YouTube livestream in the Thai program Hone-Krasae lamented the incident stating "cheating and still losing is shameful".[4]
Kong Sutprom, "Cheerio" admitted to be involved in the cheating scandal on 2 January 2026 saying he attempted to play in the SEA Games behalf of Naphat. He asked for apology for bring shame to Thailand.[17]
Court case and conviction
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) through its Crime Suppression Division arrested Naphat and Kong on 4 February 2026 in Nonthaburi and Nakhon Phanom provinces seizing evidence related to their cheating.[3][18] On 6 February 2026 charges were filed against Naphat and Kong at the Pathumwan Kwaeng Court with "colluding to obtain and disclose restricted computer access credentials and with unlawfully accessing computer data protected by security measures".[19] The pair both formally pleaded guilty.[18]
The pair disclosed their methods during the investigation. Kong also admitted that he has been playing for Naphat for "a long time" and was hired to boost her image on social media.[8]
On 17 March 2026, the pair was sentenced both people to a six-month sentence but this was reduced to three months each due to the pair's cooperation with the investigation. They were granted bail and were ordered to pay 24,000 baht ($740)[1]