The VALORANT community is outraged after it was announced that Ava “florescent” Eugene is eligible to compete in Riot-sanctioned events.
Esports fans have not been happy with the handling of florescent’s case from the beginning. Back in May 2025, Riot stated that “a competitor” had been accused of sexual assault and it was doing its own investigation on the “most serious” matter. But florescent’s name was never mentioned.
“I’m aware of the allegations that were made against me and take them very seriously. However, I strongly deny any and all accusations of SA,” florescent tweeted, adding that she was seeking legal council on the matter.
More accusations against flor came rolling in. Meanwhile, VALORANT fans questioned why Riot was willing to “assess” the situation while Jay “Sinatraa” Won, popular Overwatch League turned VALORANT pro, was “immediately banned” when he was accused of sexually abusing his ex-girlfriend.
Now, Riot is under fire once more after stating that “no competitive penalties” were issued against Florescent, allowing her to compete in Riot’s events again.
Riot stated: “This was a personal matter and no sufficient evidence was found to determine that a violation of the Global Code of Conduct occurred.”
VALORANT Fans Not Aware That Sinatraa Was Never Banned
It’s no shocker that the esports community is full of a lot of transphobic individuals. With the accusations against flor basically confirming their warped view of trans women, these gamers were quick to condemn her the moment the stories came out. They were also immediately ready to call out Riot for not handing out a swifter, harsher punishment.
florescent’s situation has been repeatedly compared to Sinatraa, since both were accused of unwanted sexual behavior. But common sense would say that two incidents are not enough to prove that Riot treated anyone special or differently. Two incidents are not enough to immediately jump to the conclusion that Riot went easy on flor because she is trans. We’d have to see multiple other players instantly banned for a pattern to form (and then break).
And the thing is, a lot of people are remembering Sinatraa’s situation a bit differently than reality. He was not instantly and permanently banned. He was actually never even banned at all. He was suspended for six months, starting due to his behavior during the investigation.
During the investigation, Riot claimed Won “misrepresented certain facts, made false statements, and did not cooperate with the investigation in a way expected of a professional VALORANT esports player.”
Still, he is technically able to compete right now. And for the past several years. Fans are calling it more of a “shadow ban,” since he basically is not being signed by any VALORANT team due to the bad press that organization would receive following the accusations against Sinatraa (including video evidence) and the way he behaved during the investigation. It’s also being claimed that Sinatraa has chosen not to compete himself.
And I bet flor will be shadow banned too. Seeing as she was accused of sexual assault by women who are also on Game Changers teams, it would be quite shocking if any team wanted to take her back after this situation.
The number of esports fans who have been so quick to claim that florescent is getting special treatment of some kind due to her identity are clearly not interested in facts and are instead just blindly hating on trans women. I have not seen a single reply actually concerned for the victims. It’s either random “what about Sinatraa” spam or hateful comments about trans women.
I am not saying florescent is innocent. I have no clue what happened during the investigation. But it’s clear none of you do either. You just want to hate on trans women. In fact, it sounds like all of you want Sinatraa to play no matter what his victim claimed, while you immediately believe Flor’s victims. If anything, I feel you guys are inconsistent, not Riot.