Competitive Ruling: Felipe “YoDa” Noronha
TL;DR
- On April 27, Felipe “YoDa” Noronha used racially derogatory language in a tweet;
- Noronha is being issued a 3-game suspension and a $2,000 USD fine for this incident.
Context
On April 27, RED Canids’ registered substitute, Felipe “YoDa” Noronha, made comments on social media using racially offensive language regarding players from another region.
We expect professional players to maintain good behavior in and out of game, and have zero tolerance for this kind of racially derogatory language. Although Noronha does not have any prior history of toxicity or other discipline infractions, pro players should demonstrate respect to other players and their cultures, and these actions clearly violated that principle.
Relevant Rules
9.1.2 Profanity and Hate Speech.
A Team Member may not use language that is obscene, foul, vulgar, insulting, threatening, abusive, libelous, slanderous, defamatory or otherwise offensive or objectionable; or promote or incite hatred or discriminatory conduct, in or near the match area, at any time. A Team Member may not use any facilities, services or equipment provided or made available by MSI or its contractors to post, transmit, disseminate or otherwise make available any such prohibited communications. A Team Member may not use this type of language on social media or during any public facing events such as streaming.
9.2.4 Discrimination and Denigration.
Team Members may not offend the dignity or integrity of a country, private person or group of people through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigrating words or actions on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, financial status, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason.
Ruling
Noronha has violated rules 9.1.2 and 9.2.4 of the MSI ruleset.
Noronha is:
- Suspended from his team’s next three matches at MSI;
- Fined $2,000 USD
Q&A
How does this differ from Svenskeren’s punishment during Worlds 2014 and Road’s punishment during Worlds 2016?
This specific offense was fairly similar to that of Svenskeren in 2014, albeit lacking the history of toxicity that helped to inform that ruling. It’s a more severe offense than Road’s given the nature of the language used, which is why the suspension was held at three games vs Road’s one-game penalty. In all three cases, the general principle was consistent (offensive/inappropriate language), and the variance is based on the specific severity of the offense, hence a punishment that is more severe than Road but slightly less severe than Svenskeren. It’s also worth noting that the ecosystem is vastly different now than it was in 2014, and an offense like that committed by Svenskeren, paired with a history like the one he held at that time, would result in a larger fine today.
Why not ban Noronha for a game of CBLOL? MSI is too important to affect a team that significantly.
As we’ve set the expectation previously, we address disciplinary infractions immediately upon investigation and determination of transgression. In this case,the offense was committed shortly before MSI; suspending Noronha immediately is consistent with previous punishments and is appropriate to our expectations of pro player behavior.
