A professional e-sports player has been suspended from competing for three years after allegedly using “sensitive wording“ in his gaming account name, according to the Esports Association of Hong Kong, China (ESAHK).
The player involved used “Eazy.D.L.光復” as his account name, in which the two Chinese characters mean “Liberate,” in a competition hosted by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) on Sunday, according to local media reports.
However, HKFP was not able to find the livestream of the competition on AESF’s YouTube channel as of Tuesday’s afternoon.
The slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” was first used by localist activist Edward Leung, before being adopted as a key slogan during the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
The term was later ruled as being capable of inciting secession during the city’s first national security case.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ESAHK said the player, surnamed Lam, would be suspended from joining competitions in which Hong Kong representatives are selected by the body. It also reserved the right to pursue the player for violation of his contract.
“This decision was undoubtedly a severe punishment for the player; however, we believe it is a necessary measure to uphold the fairness of the entire competition and abide by the principles of sportsmanship,” the statement read.
Saying that personal emotion should not be brought to the contest, the association urged players to maintain the purity of the competition.
In 2019, a Hong Kong-based professional e-sports player was also suspended for 12 months after he shouted “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” while he was competing in a top tournament for the game Hearthstone, run by American gaming company Blizzard.
In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – bypassing the local legislature – following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city.
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