“Cheating and still losing is shameful,” Lothong said the YouTube livestream hosted by the Thai program “Hone-Krasae” on Wednesday.
Thai women’s RoV Head coach Pom Jakraphon, who joined the talk show with Lothong, said the team opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Timor Leste, followed by another victory against Laos, before suffering a heavy loss to Vietnam on Tuesday.
The coach and teammates said Tokyogurl’s performance differed sharply from her online training sessions, with repeated early deaths, minimal damage output, and no kills, according to Znews.
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“Tokyogurl” Naraphat Warasin the disqualified member of the Thai women’s Arena of Valor team. Photo from Facebook |
Tokyogurl was disqualified after referees found unauthorized software on her phone during the match against Vietnam. Officials allegedly discovered she was using “TeamViewer,” a screen-sharing application linked to so-called “ghost coaching,” The Nation reported. The software allows another person, such as a coach or professional player, to view a player’s screen in real time from a remote location and provide tactical guidance or track opponents’ cooldowns.
Team captain Jormkon Pumseenil, known as “Givemeakiss,” recalled the moment the cheating was uncovered. “She turned to me and said, ‘It is not mine, it belonged to the previous player. I did not know anything.’ But I clearly saw her log in herself. At that moment, I knew everything was over,” Givemeakiss said.
Addressing Tokyogurl’s post-match hospitalization on Monday, which she attributed to a panic attack, Lothong said medical assessments ruled out mental damage, diagnosing a stomach-related condition instead.
On Tuesday, Lothong confirmed Thailand’s decision to withdraw the women’s team from SEA Games 33 after Tokyogurl was officially expelled from the tournament. He said the move was a voluntary decision to preserve national honor rather than a mandatory penalty imposed by competition regulations.
Lothong said he would take full responsibility for the incident and pledged to continue investigating those involved, adding that senior officials could resign if public pressure mounted.
Tokyogurl has been handed a lifetime ban from professional competition by the Thailand Esports Federation, while game publisher Garena has banned her from all Arena of Valor tournaments. Her professional team, TALON, also confirmed the immediate termination of her contract.