Camille Naredo

A flag for the 33rd SEA Games 2025 is pictured outside Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on November 28, 2025.

A flag for the 33rd SEA Games 2025 is pictured outside Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on November 28, 2025. Eleven sports at the Southeast Asian Games hosted by Thailand in December will be moved mostly to the capital Bangkok because of severe flooding, organisers have said. (Photo by Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP)

Article (news)

33rd SEA Games 2025

Agence France-Presse

BANGKOK, Thailand-- A Thai esports player competing in an Arena of Valor women&#x27;s match has been expelled from the Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok for cheating, the host&#x27;s esports federation said Tuesday, leading to her whole team pulling out.Thai gamer Warasin Naphat &quot;committed an offence... by using unauthorized third-party software or hardware modification during Game 1&quot; of a match on Monday, according to a letter from a SEA Games delegate released by the Thailand esports Federation (TESF).Warasin was also filmed raising her middle finger during a televised broadcast of the event in Bangkok, local media reported.&quot;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,&quot; the letter said.The TESF said Tuesday in a post on Facebook that it accepted the decision by organizers to expel Warasin -- and announced the withdrawal of her entire team from the SEA Games.&quot;Please forgive our team for their mistake. My team and I are truly sorry,&quot; TESF president Santi Lothong said in a recorded statement.&quot;We love our sport and cannot let anything, no matter who do it, make our sport look so bad.&quot;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 December 20 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 &quot;for safety reasons&quot;.Host Thailand leads the overall medal count, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.

A Thai esports player competing in an Arena of Valor women's match has been expelled from the #2025SEAGames in Bangkok for cheating.

A Thai esports player competing in an Arena of Valor women's match has been expelled from the #2025SEAGames in Bangkok for cheating.

Thai esports player expelled from SEA Games for cheating

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Thai esports player expelled from SEA Games for cheating

Agence France-Presse

Published December 16, 2025 10:03 PM PHT

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