Coach Pom Jakrapon Pompranee has spoken out for the first time on social media after the scandal involving the Thai women's national AOV player caught cheating, which led to the team's withdrawal from SEA Games 2025.
On 16 Dec 2025 GMT+7, Coach Pom Jakrapon Pompranee, head coach of the Thai women's national Arena of Valor (AOV) team, spoke out for the first time following a major esports scandal. One of the national players, Tokyogurl, was found cheating during competition and was disqualified from SEA Games 2025, prompting the Thai team to withdraw from the event soon after.
Coach Pom explained on his personal Facebook that he feels deeply saddened by the incident. He apologized to fans and all affected parties and confirmed his respect for the investigation processes conducted by the relevant authorities.
Coach Pom noted that before the competition, a team member raised concerns about one player's behavior. However, at that time, there was no clear evidence—only hearsay. He therefore called all parties for a discussion, including the player in question, who denied the allegations and felt that the suspicion undermined her own abilities.
With the team preparing for an important match in two days, Coach Pom said he consulted with the head coach and the team psychologist before deciding to "choose to trust" the player's word, aiming to avoid internal conflict within the team.
Nonetheless, Coach Pom acknowledged that this decision ultimately caused great pain to himself and the other players. He firmly stated that throughout training, no abnormal behavior was observed and he sincerely believes all players trained based on their own skills.
Finally, Coach Pom emphasized that he and the other five players had no knowledge of and were not involved in any cheating. He added that no one would risk their reputation, honor, or the team's and country's trust so recklessly.
"This incident will be an important lesson for me and the players. I sincerely apologize once again to everyone affected," Coach Pom concluded.