One of the top eSports players from the Philippines has been banned from participating in a major event in China after typing a racial slur during a game.

Valve, which owns popular eSport title Dota 2, revealed that Filipino Dota 2 player TNC Predator’s Carlo “Kuku” Palad will not be allowed to join Chongqing Major for typing out “ching chong” in the chat.

Prior to Valve’s announcement, many Chinese gamers immediately responded to the controversy by giving Dota 2 low ratings on its game page, affecting its overall rating. They also flooded the game’s review section with thousands of negative comments.

The recent statement earned cheers from Chinese fans online, according to Abacus

“Cool. I can now top up my Steam account. Although how Valve has handled it might have come a little late, it’s still fair,” one netizen wrote, referring to PC game retail platform Steam, which is owned by Valve.

Palad, who plays for TNC Predator, wasn’t the only Filipino Dota 2 player to generate controversy for using a racial slur against opponents.

CompLexity Gaming Dota 2 player Rolen Andrei Gabriel “Skemberlu” Ong reportedly said something similar shortly after the incident. Ong has since been released by his team, reports ESPN.



TNC Predator previously claimed in some tweets that they were asked by the Chinese government to not include Palad in their roster for the tournament because his “safety could not be guaranteed.”

However, Valve denied such claims in its latest statement, saying: “For clarification, Kuku is not banned by the Chinese government. While there is a lot of anxiety around his attendance and problems it may create, we do not believe his presence creates a real security threat.”

Aside from Valve’s one-game against Palad, TNC Predator also incurred a 20% Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) point penalty for the incident.

TNC Predator recently won the 2018 World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) Southeast Asian (SEA) Dota 2 Finals after defeating the Malaysian squad WarriorsGaming.Unity. TNC competed in the SEA Finals with Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa standing in for Palad.

Featured Image via Instagram / tncpredator