Clips of BBL player Profek insulting Atatürk when he was 17 have surfaced, but Riot Games announced that no action will be taken.
Twitter (X) turned into a battlefield after a clip of Dawid Święc, also known as Profek, spread online. In a ranked VALORANT match back in 2022, Profek, frustrated, used racist and sexist slurs and also insulted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of Turkey. The player received heavy backlash.
Profek initially made a statement when the incident came to light:
Losing like this is tough, but what I saw after the match made me even more upset.
I really love this community, and I want to apologize for the things I said in a ranked game when I was 17, without understanding how much i was hurting people.
Seeing this has made me feel sick because I dont recognise myself in it and I am so sorry to anyone who this has upset.
I do not agree with using racist words no matter what situation you are in and I have nothing but respect for Atatürk, for the people of Turkey, and what he means to you and your history. The things I said years ago are not the things I believe in now, and I feel completely ashamed of what I did.
I hope you will forgive me, because I love you all and your support means a lot to me.
Çeviri
Riot Did Not Issue a Disciplinary Penalty for PROFEK
Following the backlash, Riot Games announced that an investigation had been launched regarding the incident. Shortly after, they reached a conclusion and declared that no disciplinary action would be taken against the player.
Investigation Closed: No Disciplinary Action Against Dawid “PROFEK” Święc
Riot Games recently became aware of potential violations of the Riot Games Esports Global Code of Conduct. In particular, a video was published on X (formerly Twitter) involving the VCT EMEA player Dawid Święc (“PROFEK”) using offensive language during a ranked match in 2022.
After reviewing all relevant evidence, we have confirmed that the incident occurred in 2022, before PROFEK was competing as a semi-professional or professional player in Riot Games’ VALORANT esports ecosystem. Therefore, the matter does not fall within the scope of the Riot Games Esports Global Code of Conduct.
Should new information or evidence come to light, we reserve the right to reopen the investigation.
Riot Games
Riot officials explained their decision by stating that the incident took place before Profek competed as a semi-professional or professional player. Because of this reasoning, the community once again reacted strongly, claiming it reflected a biased attitude against Turks.
Profek: “I want to apologize for my actions.”
After the decision was made, BBL player Profek released a statement on his Twitter (X) account, apologizing to fans.
Hello guys,
First of all, I want to apologize for my past actions when I was teenager. I sincerely apologise to everyone I have offended. After 4 years I have grown a lot as a person and I understand my horrible mistakes and trust me I really mean it. I also want to thank my friends and BBL fans who were supporting me in this situation. This means a lot.
About the year in BBL
It was one of the best years in my life. I really want to thank all my teammates and coaching staff because we were working so hard in this year to achieve every international LAN but unfortunately in this year we didn’t even have a little bit of luck in every stage of the year.
The most disappointing thing for me was the last game vs GX, I couldn’t be there for the team. The whole emotions which were in that moment were super hard for me to step up and help the team, just as I always did in every match I played for BBL.
Overall I still think we were the team which were able to go for every international in this year but we were not able to close out some rounds which were crucial for us to go for the LANs and that hurts the most.
I really want to thank all BBL FANS for all your support because going into every game felt amazing. To everyone I’ve hurt, I hope you can forgive me for my mistakes.
Profek