Tokyogurl has come forward to address the controversy, firmly denying any cheating in the Arena of Valor competition at the 2025 SEA Games. She also explained the situation at the venue before shutting down all her social media accounts.
On 16 Dec 2025 GMT+7, the controversy in Thai esports remains intense following allegations against the Tokyogurl team, which competed in Arena of Valor (RoV) at the 2025 SEA Games. Social media speculated that unauthorized software or devices may have been installed on competition equipment, violating tournament rules.
Previously, Garena issued an official statement alongside the Thailand Esports Federation (TESF), announcing the harshest penalty: a lifetime ban for the Arena of Valor esports athletes involved in the 33rd SEA Games. Simultaneously, TALON, the team’s organization, immediately terminated the players’ contracts. Garena also banned them from all competitions, and Thailand’s RoV team withdrew from the 2025 SEA Games.
However, recently a response from Tokyogurl herself surfaced online, in which she asserted her innocence and clearly denied the allegations. She stated:
“I’m just answering randomly here. If I had cheated, I would have already won. Seriously, how would I have cheated? I played myself, but I was so nervous at the venue that I panicked. No one knows what happened there. I had to be taken to the hospital. I just got to use my phone now. Connecting the link cable to the phone can’t share any cheating screen. You don’t know, yet you act like this. Everyone does this, what can I say? As for the middle finger, I was playing with Mo, my teammate beside me, because when I turned the camera caught someone else’s face. It was just teasing my friend because I was so stressed. I panicked so badly I passed out and had to be taken to the hospital.”
Tokyogurl further explained that she was under intense pressure, leading to a panic attack and lack of awareness about the surroundings. She confirmed that some criticized behaviors, such as showing the middle finger, were just playful gestures with teammates caused by stress, without any inappropriate intent regarding the competition.
Additionally, she said that after the incident, she experienced panic attacks requiring hospitalization and had only recently regained access to her phone.
Following the release of this statement, recent reports indicate that Tokyogurl has deactivated all her social media accounts amid ongoing public criticism on online platforms.