FIFA pro and streamer Kurt "Kurt0411" Fenech has had a contentious relationship with Electronic Arts for a long time. As documented by IGN, he was banned from FIFA competitions in November 2019 for persistent abusive behavior toward the company during livestreams and on social media, shortly after which FIFA community management social media accounts were hacked by Fenech supporters.
Fenech didn't seem too remorseful in this video on his 2019 ban, in which he says that telling an opponent to "suck my balls, you son of a bitch" during a livestream—cited as a reason for the ban, along with "calling out" various EA employees—was "more than warranted."
"Anyone that plays videogames has said that before to their opponents, especially in FIFA. The difference is, I've got a live camera in front of me," he says in the video. "Does that change things? No. I don't care. I don't give a shit 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?"
There's also a "diss track," released earlier this month, because of course there is.
Fenech apparently didn't see why he should change his behavior in his post-ban interactions with Electronic Arts, and so now he's not just banned from FIFA competitions, he's banned from all EA games and services.
"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 Sporty FIFA 20 Global Series events or future competitions," Electronic Art said in a message shared on Twitter.
"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 behavior. 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."
An Important message regarding FIFA player Kurt0411. pic.twitter.com/RcHu1hMCupFebruary 24, 2020
Fenech posted an image of the of the ban message he received on Twitter, and claimed that his ban was not actually caused by his behavior, but by his dominance.
"End of the day I have never said anything I shouldn't have. This is just deeper than anyone thinks," he tweeted. "They didn't want me competing at events cos they were scared I'd win them, now I'm the 2nd biggest streamer of their games and they're scared I'll overtake their golden boy."
He also hinted rather strongly that in spite of the ban, he's not going away quietly.
But when everything is said and done we’ll beat them trust me. They have money but we have numbers. Fuck then and everyone on their sideFebruary 24, 2020
I'm not a FIFA player myself so I can't say with certainty who the "golden boy" Fenech referred to is, but according to Twitchmetrics the top FIFA 20 streamer on Twitch, by far, is Edwin "Castro-1021" Castro. Ironically, Fenech's final warning prior to his November 2019 ban from FIFA competitions came after he interrupted Castro during a livestreamed interview. He expressed no remorse about that one either, saying the situation could have been avoided "if you gave me the microphone so I can speak to the people that were watching—which were watching for me."
