Astralis star k0nfig admits to Malta fistfight: “Scared I was about to die”
Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTDanish CS:GO star Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke has revealed that he feared for his life during an altercation in Malta that resulted in a complicated ankle fracture.
k0nfig had to sit out last week’s European RMR, the qualifying event for the upcoming IEM Rio Major, after fracturing his ankle in the lead-up to the tournament.
News outlet Jaxon revealed shortly afterward that the injury had been the result of a scuffle with a nightclub promoter in Malta, where his Astralis team was staying for ESL Pro League Season 16.
On October 10, Astralis announced that they had reached an agreement with k0nfig for the cancellation of his contract, in an effort to give the player “space and time” to recover, according to Kasper Hvidt, the organization’s Director of Sports.
Despite initially labeling Jaxon’s story “mostly BS”, k0nfig has now confirmed that he was involved in a fight that began when he was denied entrance into a nightclub in Paceville where was due to join his teammates.
“The entrance of the nightclub was at the top of this staircase leading into the club,” k0nfig wrote in a Twitlonger post. “I walked up the staircase and asked the guy who appeared to be in charge if I could join my friends and explained that they had already gone in.
“Instead of just saying no, he dissed my tattoos and said that it was ‘his fucking club’ and that I was a “tattooed loser” and that there was no way he would let me in, except if I paid 5,000 euros for a table. He was aggressive and I felt humiliated so we got into an argument.
“I told him he was the loser for standing in a nightclub queue and feeling better than everyone else and then suddenly he spat me directly in my face and kicked me straight in my face. It made me fall down the stairs and sprain my foot.”
Astralisk0nfig added that, after sitting on the pavement outside the club, in a state of “total shock” and confusion, he spotted the nightclub promoter leaving the premises and chased after him.
“When I caught up with him, I said I would report it to the police and he immediately spat at me once again and cursed at me, which infuriated me,” he said. “We got into a fight, and he broke my leg and I fell to the ground. He was kicking me multiple times in my head while I was laying down. I tried getting away from the situation but I couldn’t because of the broken leg. I tried to run away but I couldn’t put weight on my right leg. It just snapped and broke completely, dislocating my foot as well. He stopped kicking me because I dragged him down to me and I had to defend myself to make him stop kicking me.
“I was so scared that I was about to die. I remember feeling like I was watching my own body from above laying there.”
Looking back, k0nfig admitted that he “terribly” regrets the decision to confront the nightclub promoter again. “I should have walked away,” he said. “I should have just gone home and licked my wounds because then none of this would have happened.”
k0nfig talks about his future
Teamless and out of action for an undetermined period of time, k0nfig said that he has been “in a really deep dark place” since the incident. He returned to Denmark on September 22 and has since undergone two surgeries to fix his broken ankle.
“When I came home I broke down crying, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” k0nfig said. “It felt so fucking bad that I just wanted to delete everything and just give up. I couldn’t stop crying. I was in my own bed feeling empty.”
k0nfig leaves Astralis after less than a year on the team, having been signed alongside Complexity teammate Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer in November 2021.
The team has failed to live up to the hype generated by those two high-profile signings, with IEM Rio being the first Major that Astralis will miss since the organization was created, in 2016.
One of the biggest ‘what if’ stories in the CS:GO scene, k0nfig is determined to return to action soon. He will start seeing a psychologist soon as he hopes to address some of the issues that have prevented him from realizing his potential.
“My mindset is moving forward,” he said. “Moving forward but seeing the demon in the eyes. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll turn this downfall into something positive.
“This is not who I am. I don’t give up. I’ll do what is needed to become the god-tier Counter-Strike player that I know I can be.”