Banned FIFA pro Kurt breaks silence and accuses EA of creating “toxic community”

Kurt Fenech is one of the most well-known names in FIFA, despite his ban from the EA SPORTS franchise putting him completely out of action in FIFA 21.

The Maltese star was, at the peak of his career, one of the greatest FIFA players in the world. Not only that, but he always had his fair share of fanfare following him, as one of the most outspoken critics of the title on top of his insane skill.

During the FIFA 20 season, tensions started to heat up between Kurt and EA, before he was finally banned in February 2020 for breaking their Code of Conduct. As a consequence of his ban, he is not allowed to play any EA games at all.

After trying out FIFA competitor PES for a short while, Kurt went almost radio-silent on the YouTube front, not uploading for months and barely addressing his ban — until now.

In a February 23 YouTube upload, Kurt revealed that he is still completely banned from FIFA and has not been able to play this entire time.

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In the video, he also says that the handling of his ban has been “ridiculous” and questioned their stated commitment to mental health awareness.

Kurt goes on to specify that his ban came as a result of EA saying that he fostered a “toxic community” around the game — but suggests that it’s got even worse since. He also passes the blame on to EA themselves, saying that they are the reason for toxicity within the community, having failed to take action against users who actually violate terms of service.

“This is where I do take issue,” he said. “They told me I created an unhealthy community. Over the past year without me, what changed? It’s more toxic than it’s ever been! I know who is [responsible]. It’s not me… It’s they themselves.”

Kurt goes on to explain that he won’t make excuses for the things he has said and done in the past leading up to his ban, but tells EA that they need to take some responsibility too.

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Finally, he commends 14-year-old Anders Vejrgang, the FIFA star who went on an insane 536 match unbeaten run in FUT Champs as one of his favorite sources of entertainment, but now his streak is gone Kurt “doesn’t know what’s left.”

Though Kurt says he would love to come back, there’s no word yet on if or when that could ever happen. He did try to a few times on Twitch immediately following his initial ban, though we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.