KUALA LUMPUR – A racially-charged argument erupted between a Malaysian and a Singaporean professional Esports team involving the inappropriate use of words such as “terrorist” and Allah” which caused a stir within the online gaming community.
The spat arose during a training match in the wee hours of March 29 between Malaysian team Geek Fam and Singapore-based Team OP, which was live-streamed on Facebook. Derogatory remarks about religion, particularly Islam, were exchanged alongside a slew of taunts during the altercation.
One Geek Fam member reminded the players that their game was being live-streamed, but insults kept provoking the “trash talk” to go on.
Viewers also chimed in through comments, debating who were at fault for provoking the fight and whether the argument was religiously insensitive or not. The spat eventually spread onto social media.
Geek Fam founder Lim Keat Kuang told The Vibes he was upset that these exchanges happened between professional Esport players.
“Racial issues may come up during games but they usually never surface in public.
“However, because our player was streaming it live on Facebook, where he typically gets 500 concurrent viewers, the issue gained wide traction.
“When the other team, Team OP, began winning the game the trash talk was started to probably undermine the losing players.
“Suddenly they were calling our Malay Muslim players ‘terrorists’, which our players then responded by typing in a question mark in the chat.
“In a lot of sports, athletes may try to throw the opponents off their game. To a certain extent it is acceptable but there is a line to be drawn somewhere, and it should be drawn when it comes to race and religion,” he said.
Lim said they later decided to raise the issue by making a complaint to the game developer, Moonton.
Every professional player has signed a contract with Moonton, which imposes a penalty on inappropriate behaviour such as sexual harassment, violence, hate speech and abusive acts.
Moonton agreed to conduct an investigation into the matter.
Subsequently, Geek Fam demanded an apology from Team OP, who complied but not before “victim-blaming” and “victim-shaming” the players.
The Geek Fam player apologised an hour after the incident while Team OP players only apologised 40 hours later.
Moonton eventually released a statement barring three Team OP players from the professional scene for two years and another for one year. Ten points were also deducted from the team’s tournament scoreboard.
However, some considered the punishment for this racial offence to be too lenient.
In contrast, Malaysia-based Team Mikey who were found guilty of in-game coaching got a permanent ban from the professional scene.
Lim highlighted that players must come forward whenever racial slurs are used during games because there must be no room for racism in the Esports arena.
“We live in a multiracial country, and we are also citizens of the world because of how the internet and travel connect us.
“There must be moderation and mutual respect for different cultures, religions and races, these are basic rules of life in this day and age.
“Healthy competition is much encouraged in the Esports arena, and this field should also provide avenues for players to build an understanding between different countries, where two groups of people who may speak different languages can still interact with each other through their passion for the game.
“It is worrying when we allow these racially-charged taunts to slip through our grasp, because what are we teaching the next generation? That insulting another person’s religion, race and culture, are acceptable?
"It is time we put our foot down and say no to racism."
Geek Fam's official statement can be read here.
Official statement by Geek Fam regarding the recent incident with Team OP Dominus Livestream link :...
Posted by Geek Fam Mobile Legends Malaysia on Wednesday, March 30, 2022
The live stream is also available on Facebook. - The Vibes, April 2, 2022
