Bugha handed “competitive warning” after FNCS teaming allegations

Almost 12 months to the day since he won the Fortnite World Cup 2019, Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf has been handed an “official warning” by Epic Games for cheating in the FNCS after allegedly teaming in the Solos event.

Bugha has been caught in hot water for allegedly cheating in the FNCS Solos qualifiers over the last week.

While on stream playing the FNCS qualifiers, the 2019 World Cup champion was on a call with friend ‘Owl’. After Bugha got jumped on and killed by ‘co1azo’, the Solos champion called out to his friend to take down co1azo.

“Bro, sh*t on this kid Owl,” Bugha said as Owl pushed the box he died in. Co1azo ended up taking down Owl too, with the two knocked out of that match.

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However, this little action caught the eyes ⁠— and the ire ⁠— of the community. Hundreds of people on Reddit were calling out Bugha, asking Epic to look at banning the World Cup champion for colluding.

“If Dubs got banned for what he did, this should be a ban [in my opinion]. How are you allowed to be in the same call as someone who is in the same game and location and be communicating to them?” one player asked.

Epic did end up taking action. Three days after the qualifier, Bugha was handed an “competitive warning” for collusion and match fixing. However, he was not suspended, and will be able to play this weekend’s FNCS Finals.

“Due to your recent actions, you have been issued a competitive warning for collusion and match fixing. Please refrain from repeat offenses or you may receive an account ban,” the notice read.

Under Section 8.2.2 of the official FNCS ruleset, “players may not work together to deceive or otherwise cheat other players during any match.”

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Bugha defended himself after receiving the warning, but not through his own words. Owl was also handed an official warning from Epic, and he made a statement that was retweeted by the 2019 World Cup champion.

“Me, Bugha, and Nosh were all in the same call in that game. Nosh was literally fighting Bugha ⁠— we were all deafened. Bugha undeafens as I’m already in the box, not before, and tells me to kill him because it’s my skin,” he said on Twitter.

“Do your research before blindly giving players real comp warnings of teaming that can hurt their brand.”

Bugha and Owl are still in the FNCS Finals despite the competitive warning. They will both take part in the NA-East Heats kicking off on August 16.