FIFA 20 pro gamer banned for life by EA in row over ‘abusive and threatening messages’

Pro gamer Kurt ‘Kurt0411’ Fenech has been banned for life by games publisher EA after repeatedly violating the company’s code of conduct with “abusive and threatening” behaviour.

The esports player and streamer had been initially banned from FIFA 20 competitions in November 2019 – and previously for FIFA 19 in October 2018 – but this has now been expanded to all of EA’s games and services.

His initial ban was handed out after EA claimed he threatened employees and other players, most notably telling another competitor to “suck my b*lls, you son of a b*tch”. He also was seen on video spitting on the EA company logo and saying “f*ck you, EA”.

Despite the suspension, the 2018 eWorld Cup semi-finalist who has won over $48,000 (£37,000) in prize money playing the game has not shown any remorse for his actions, claiming that “anyone that plays video games has said that before to their opponents, especially in FIFA. The difference is, I’ve got a live camera in front of me.

“Does that change things? No. I don’t care. I don’t give a sh*t that there’s a camera in front of me. Why do I have to change what I say because there’s a camera in front of me?”

Kurt0411 also voiced his support for the hacking of EA’s social media accounts, and most recently highlighted a video where multiple FUT Champions Cup winner Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt claimed nobody enjoys FIFA 20 after being knocked out of a tournament.

“’No one enjoys playing it’ sums it up pretty nicely,” Kurt0411 wrote. “What are you going to do now? Ban him as well? They’ve done everything this year but look at themselves and admit they f*cked it. They killed their game and their ‘esport’.”

EA released a lengthy statement on their Twitter account, confirming that Kurt0411 was banned from playing their games and accessing their services claiming the esports player crossed a line with his personal attacks.

“In November 2019, after a series of code of conduct violations as part of the EA Sports FIFA Global Series in which he threatened employees and other players, Kurt0411 was banned from competing or attending any EA Sports FIFA 20 Global Series events or future competitions.

“Since that time, Kurt has continued to post abusive and threatening messages and videos about EA employees and competitive players on social media and he has encouraged others to do the same.

“His messages have crossed a line of decency into very personal attacks and breach our Terms of Service. We will not tolerate threatening behaviour.

“As a result, today Kurt0411’s EA account will be banned from playing our games and accessing our services due to these serious and repeated violations.

“We build games and communities for players to have fun. Creating a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone without fear of harassment or abuse is a vital part of that.

“We have an ongoing focus to create communities where everyone feels safe and respected, including in-game toxicity reporting tools as well as new moderation tools. And, we will continue to add more features.”

This is the VOD that Kurt got banned for, I am all for freedom of speech but this is disgusting behaviour. How are you going to spit on the logo of a company that you want to be a professional esports athlete for. I know I am going to get stick for this but he deserves the ban. pic.twitter.com/oJmlifBFLU

— DrJarba (@JarbaFifa) November 1, 2019

Like November’s initial ban, the news was not taken well by Kurt0411, who responded by saying that EA were trying to stop him playing FIFA 20 and becoming the game’s most popular player.

“End of the day I have never said anything I shouldn’t have,” he tweeted. “This is just deeper than anyone thinks. They didn’t want me competing at events cos they were scared I’d win them, now I’m the second biggest streamer of their game and they’re scared I’ll overtake their golden boy.

“But when everything is said and done we’ll beat them trust me. They have money but we have numbers. F*ck then and everyone on their side.”

Kurt0411 has over 100,000 Twitch followers and just under 100,000 Twitter followers, having amassed over two million views on his videos.

Since Monday’s permanent ban, he has been contacted by popular Youtube channel #DramaAlert about making a documentary entitled ‘The man EA Sports wants to disappear’.