TNC Predator has a bad history when it comes to its players’ conduct outside of official competitions, and the organization is looking to head off any potential controversy in its latest incident.
TNC announced that carry player Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte has been fined by the team due to inappropriate conduct during a pub game towards a female teammate. This comes after social media posts accusing him of sexist behavior went viral.
“We have been made aware of Gabbi’s unacceptable behavior in one of his ranked games last night. As a professional player, he has the responsibility to be a role model to his audience, especially to the Dota 2 community. For this, he will be fined and we will take necessary steps to prevent this from happening again,” TNC said in a statement on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, a Dota 2 player using the nickname Hishiko posted screen grabs of Gabbi making sexist remarks during a pub game. This included him stating that Hishiko “talks too much for a girl,” and asking her if she was “on her period.”
i’m sorry i offended you. just wanted to have a cool and chill pubs but u and pango wont stop talkshitting bout each other i’m just annoyed thats why i said it. mybad
— Gabbi (@gabbidoto) November 10, 2020
Chat logs showed that the dispute stemmed from an argument between Hishiko and another teammate which spilled out into all chat. Gabbi, who was not previously a part of the fighting, interjected with the sexist remarks.
The TNC carry acknowledged that he made these remarks on Twitter, and apologized to Hishiko shortly thereafter. This is still an unfortunate turn from one of the Southeast Asia region’s biggest names.
TNC was very quick to respond to the accusations directed at Gabbi, a stark change from years past. The organization famously attempted to cover up an incident of racist behavior by Carlo “Kuku” Palad during a pub game. This wound up being a catastrophic mistake by the organization, as fans quickly saw through the attempt.
This sparked huge backlash against the organization, which included a suspension from the MDL Chongqing Major by Valve. After, it was revealed that Kuku had also been blocked from competing in WESG 2018 by local government authorities.
TNC is clearly looking to avoid a similar controversy here, but it’s unclear what sort of repercussions Gabbi is actually facing. He is not facing any kind of suspension, and no exact figure was revealed for how much he is being fined.
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