UPDATE (14:04 CEST): CAG Osaka withdraws of APAC North 2025 Stage 1 Playoffs
Following the reports indicating that CAG Osaka's player Sho "BlackRay" Hasegawa was arrested on July 16, 2025, for confining and coercing a man, CAG Osaka have withdrawn from the APAC North 2025 Stage 1 Playoffs.
The team was expected to play against PSG Talon on July 20, 2025, in the tournament's Lower Bracket Quarterfinals. While some people expected the team's coach Takuma "SuzuC" Nakajima to step in, the team's decision has been to forfeit the next game instead.
You can find our initial report below:
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CAG Osaka's player Sho "BlackRay" Hasegawa was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police alongside six other men for allegedly confining a person for three months, according to multiple Japanese reports.
The article published by the Japanese outlet Jiji Press includes a picture of BlackRay allegedly entering the Takashimadaira Police Station. The detention was reportedly made on July 16, and there's also an almost five-minute video on it published by All-Nippon News Network. The CAG Osaka player can be seen at the 14-second mark.
The reports suggest that suspects are accused of blackmailing and confining a man in his thirties, who was the main contractor of an interior construction project.
According to Jiji's report, the seven men were involved, and "allegedly poured boiling water on him, beat him with a hammer, and caused serious injuries such as fractured ribs, a broken lower back, and burns all over his body that required six months to recover."
There are also "suspicions" that "they pressed a heated frying pan against his body and stabbed him with a screwdriver." The report suggests that these actions were recorded and shared.
During the confinement, the men threatened the victim to pay more money, coercing the man to borrow more money and cancel his insurance. It's reported that the men extorted around two million yen (around USD$13,000) from the victim.
Jiji's report explains that the victim was located on April 30, when the police found him as a passenger in a vehicle involved in a crash with a taxi cab. The suspect was driving the car and had caused the accident before fleeing the scene.
Considering the available reports, we believe this situation took place between February and April 2025. This means that the CAG Osaka player could have been involved in this while he was in Boston, Massachusetts, competing at the Six Invitational 2025. The victim had been freed only three weeks before BlackRay and CAG Osaka reached the RE:L0:AD grand finals.
While CAG Osaka have yet to confirm or deny the reports, it's worth mentioning that BlackRay's picture and social media information isn't available in the team's official website. The information about the other players and staff in the team is still there.
We expect CAG Osaka to make an official statement in the upcoming hours, as the Japanese team's next match is against PSG Talon on July 20. Given the circumstances, we expect CAG Osaka's coach Takuma "SuzuC" Nakajima to step in the lineup for this week's game. Before becoming the team's coach, SuzuC had been a player for CAG Osaka between June 2019 and February 2024.
We will update this article as soon as more information is revealed. Until then, stick with us here at Siege.GG for more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene.