Michael Beckwith 
After winning their seventh Evo championship at Evo 2024, Dominique “SonicFox” McLean took a moment to criticize the Saudi Arabia-sponsored EWC event.
SonicFox is one of the most recognizable professional fighting game players within the esports scene. During Evo 2024, they won the Mortal Kombat 1 tournament, the sixth game in which they’ve won an Evo championship. Given their successes, one would expect they’d one day wind up participating in a $1 million Esports World Cup tournament.
The first EWC event is currently ongoing and is running tournaments across 21 different games. However, SonicFox has explained why they can’t and won’t compete in the EWC, now or ever.
Why won’t SonicFox participate in the EWC?
SonicFox criticized the Esports World Cup for its close ties to the Saudi Arabian government, which persecutes LGBTQ+ individuals. This has been a regular talking point surrounding the EWC and SonicFox is the latest to discuss it.
After their Evo win, SonicFox was asked by VG247 for their thoughts on the EWC, which will run two $1 million fighting game tournaments. SonicFox took umbrage with how the EWC is backed by the Saudi government, which has faced criticism for its treatment of LGBT individuals.
“People like me and other transgender people, a lot of folks like us straight up can’t compete. I don’t think it’s actually a good idea to work with [the Saudi Government]. While I think the money is nice, it’s life-changing money for some people, I don’t actually think it’s a good idea to have this overwhelming government support in the FGC,” SonicFox said.
The EWC is not only funded by Saudi Arabia, where there are no legal protections for LGBTQ+ rights, and same-sex sexual activity is illegal, but it’s being held in its capital city of Riyadh. Alongside the country’s laws are reports of law enforcement torturing and killing transgender individuals, or forcibly detransitioning them. Because of this, it could be dangerous for any LGBTQ+ players like SonicFox to attend the event.
In 2023, the Saudi Tourism Authority updated its website to address concerns about whether LGBT people could visit the country.
“Everyone is welcome to visit Saudi…We ask that visitors respect our culture and traditions and follow our laws as they would when visiting any other country in the world,” the statement reads.
SonicFox stated they have already been approached by sponsors for the EWC. They state they had to turn them down “because [they are] gay,” and that they felt “humiliated” by the experience.
Other competitive gaming figures have fallen in line regarding the Esports World Cup
While Sonic Fox remains critical of Saudi Arabia’s persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals, others in esports have fallen in line.
Many others have taken umbrage with the EWC’s association with Saudi Arabia for similar reasons. Esports journalists, human rights groups, and figures in competitive gaming have accused the EWC of being an attempt at “sportswashing” to improve Saudi Arabia’s reputation.
Though SonicFox remains critical, others that were critical have taken opportunities to work with Saudi esports endeavors. The latest example is Trevor “Quickshot” Henry. The League of Legends host was an early critic of Saudi influence in esports but worked the EWC’s LoL tournament.
SonicFox had not yet qualified for the Esports World Cup. Players received invitations to compete based on results in other tournaments. Given SonicFox’s success and the potential for expanding the number of fighting games in the Esports World Cup, this story likely isn’t over.
