A professional FIFA player has found himself indefinitely banned from the beautiful (digital) game after his... unsavoury feelings towards EA were made known during a live stream.
Kurt 'Kurt0411' Fenech - a well-known member of the professional FIFA community - fell foul of EA's wrath after going on something of a tirade about FIFA 20 and the publisher when he equalized late against his opponent in a live-streamed game. I think it was supposed to be trash talk? It doesn't really come off that way.
"Son of a bitch," he says in the video, which you see below. "You can't beat me, even on this piece of trash game. F*** you, EA." He then proceeds to pick up a scarf with the publisher's logo on it, and spit on it. I can't imagine EA will have loved that.
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It's also worth noting this isn't actually the first time Fenech has gone in on FIFA and EA, either. He's had a few bans from EA in the recent past, including one in October 2018, and another in March 2019. The latter ban came with a "Final Warning" for frequent infringements of EA's Code of Conduct.
According to an EA statement on this latest incident, the punishment is to be "disqualification from all EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series competition and any future events scheduled beyond this season - effective immediately".
"Kurt0411 had many chances and we were explicit that each subsequent violation would result in escalated penalties," EA wrote. "The above violations go beyond acceptable 'smack talk' as the consistent harassment targeting fellow players, EA employees, and a previous on-air talent during the live broadcast, are unacceptable."
The FIFA community seems to be split down the middle by the news of this ban. Some have suggested that EA has been too harsh in its punishment, while others have pointed out that Fenech did have his fair share of chances. They argue that his behaviour wasn't exactly acceptable.
In a statement of his own, Fenech expressed his shock at EA's decision. He wrote: "The only way for me to not get banned was to not make any videos and to never stream again. I'm a pretty emotional guy, I will say the first thing that comes to my mind and in today's world that is deemed a crime."
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"I have no idea what's going to happen moving forward, all I know is this 'esport' has officially died."
We've reached out to EA to get confirmation on the death of the competitive FIFA scene and will let you know when we hear back.
Featured Image Credit: EA/Kurt0411