Kurt lashes out at “incompetent” EA Sports after permanent FIFA ban

Isaac McIntyre

Kurt ‘Kurt0411’ Fenech didn’t hold back in his latest assault against EA Sports, suggesting the FIFA franchise publishers were “incompetent” after the new revelation he had been slapped with a permanent ban from all EA titles.

After a series of battles between the fallen FIFA star, and franchise publishers EA Sports, the gaming giant has made a final decision to ban Kurt from accessing his EA account, as well as any titles associated with the company.

EA stated in a statement released on Twitter on February 24 that the company would “not tolerate threatening behavior” from Kurt, and suggested the 25-year-old pro had “crossed a line of decency into very personal attacks.”

“Today Kurt0411’s EA account will be banned from playing our games, and accessing our services, due to these serious and repeated violations,” the company’s official statement read.

“We build games and communities for players to have fun [and] creating a safe experience for everyone without fear of harassment or abuse is a vital part of that…when feedback crosses the line to threatening, personal attacks, we will take action to move it out of our communities.”

 

Soon after the release was posted on EA’s Twitter account, Kurt replied asking the company to “give [him] examples” of when the alleged violations had occurred, and what evidence they had of him “threatening [EA’s] incompetent employees.”

The FIFA personality then took to his own account, sharing images of his disabled account, and the email from EA’s customer support alerting him of the permanent ban. Needless to say, he wasn’t too kind to the gaming giant either.

“Incredible stuff honestly… banning me from their esports events wasn’t enough, trying to get my Twitch and YouTube channels banned wasn’t enough. Now they shut down my 10-year plus FUT Founder account. No words,” he said.

The 25-year-old suggested EA was making a mistake with their decision to ban him. He also added he believed he had “never said anything [he] shouldn’t have,” despite the FIFA publishers making claims to the contrary.

“This is just deeper than anyone thinks. They didn’t want me competing at events ‘cause 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,” he said, likely referring to fellow FIFA star Edwin ‘Castro1021’ Castro.

It looks like Kurt’s high-profile story, and his war against EA, is far from over too. Hours after EA’s official statement, Daniel ‘KEEMSTAR‘ Keem teased an upcoming documentary series telling the story of the fallen FIFA star.

“Just got off the phone with Kurt, ‘the man EA Sports wants to disappear’,” the Drama Alert host revealed on Twitter. “Documentary deal done,” he added, confirming some kind of video story will soon be on the way.

While Kurt may be waging the most high-profile personal battle with EA, he’s not the only star to have put the publishers in his sights this week either—after reaching the Champions Cup finals in Paris, Fnatic’s Tekkz slammed this year’s FIFA release.

The top-level pro, who eventually finished runner-up in the Xbox bracket to Msdossary after a 5–4 epic, suggested “no one likes playing” the series this year, and dubbed the 2020 release the “most unrewarding” FIFA title yet.

Tekkz became the latest FIFA star to speak out against the franchise in Paris last weekend.

While EA brought the full force of the ban hammer down on Kurt, it looks like Tekkz got away scot-free. Considering the publisher’s permanent actions against Kurt and his views, however, who knows when the next pro may speak up again.

About The Author

Isaac was formerly the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. Isaac began his writing career as a sports journalist at Fairfax Media, before falling in love with all things esports and gaming. Since then he's covered Oceanic and global League of Legends for Upcomer, Hotspawn, and Snowball Esports.