On May 17, a female user named “Brick” on the social platform accused Florescent of sexual assault. Florescent responded that day, denying the accusation and announcing that it would seek legal assistance.
"I am aware of the relevant accusations and take them very seriously, but I firmly deny all sexual assault accusations," she said in the post. "I am currently dealing with the matter with all my strength and have begun to seek legal assistance to determine the best response - including the scope of information that can be disclosed and how to clarify the facts. Will update the progress at the appropriate time," she added: "While I hope to make the evidence public immediately, I have been advised to postpone the disclosure for safety reasons. Please also respect the privacy of the other party."
On May 18, Brick issued a follow-up statement through Google Docs, but the judicial process has not yet reached a conclusion. Subsequently, Riot Games officially issued a statement on the sexual assault accusations made by former VCT professional player Ava "Florescent" Eugene: "On May 17, we learned of sexual assault allegations against a certain player. Such accusations are extremely serious in nature, and we urge anyone with relevant information to immediately contact law enforcement." Although Riot Games will not launch an investigation on its own, the company confirmed that it will fully cooperate with the judicial investigation and will evaluate Florescent's eligibility to participate in VCT events in the future based on the results of the investigation. "Our event operations team will fully cooperate with the judicial investigation and evaluate whether these accusations will affect the subsequent eligibility of the players involved," the statement added.
As the incident continued to unfold and more and more accusations surfaced, Florescent's former teammates also came forward to issue statements on the matter.
Recently, the gaming community has strongly criticized Riot’s decision to withhold Florescent’s name from its statement, with many players comparing this to the way Riot directly named the player involved in previous similar incidents. "When Sinatraa faced similar accusations, he was suspended as soon as the investigation was launched. But now it has become 'will evaluate subsequent qualifications'?" a player questioned. Another user said: "It's disappointing that you didn't just release the name like you have done countless times in the past."
Former "Fearless Contract" reporter George Geddes also criticized Riot for not launching an internal investigation and temporarily suspending the game: "No mention of independent investigation? No temporary suspension? Not even publishing the name? (If it is for legal reasons, please state clearly - this is the practice of the global press). Riot should understand the impact of the wording of its statement."
As of now, there is no clear conclusion on the incident, and the authenticity of the accusation still needs to wait for the results of relevant judicial investigations.