Two professionals from FIFA 20 have been penalized by EA. The reason is a chat they had 5 months ago. Both players admit to having said what they are accused of but see the penalties as too harsh. One player felt provoked by racist remarks – the other considers it a revenge action by a third party.
Who are the two players in FIFA 20 and how were they punished? One player is Jas “Jas” Singh (20). He is a FIFA professional for West Ham United and a practicing Sikh. Jas has been suspended by EA for the FIFA 20 tournament in Bucharest, Romania. One must be among the world’s top 32 players in FIFA 20 to be invited there.
The other player is Nawid “GoalMachine” Zoorzai (20). He is Canadian and was a player for AS Roma Esports. However, Goal Machine was fired by his club after the incident. He has been suspended by EA for two tournaments.
What were they suspended for? It concerns the “FUT Champions CUP” (FCC). Here, 32 players per platform compete for a prize pool of $200,000.
The news of the suspension was already published on the US site of FIFA 20 (via ea.com):
- Jas Singh is banned for “threatening physical violence” and for publishing content that EA deems inappropriate or hateful.
- Nawiidd10 is banned for “hate speech.” Such a penalty applies to negative remarks about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or origin.
“I will shave your head” as a racist insult
This is what Singh says: Jas Singh states in a Twitter video that he was “racially insulted.” The other player allegedly threatened to “shave his beard and head.”
This is, for him as a Sikh, a racial insult, which he reacted to angrily. Singh then threatened to injure the other FIFA 20 pro.
In Sikh tradition, it is required to leave the hair uncut.
Singh regrets his angry reaction but feels the punishment is too harsh. He believes he should be able to defend himself when he is racially insulted. He feels treated unfairly because he takes his religion very seriously.
Escalation in group chat a few months ago
This is what Nawid says: He presents the situation as one involving a group chat among FIFA players from 5 months ago. If Singh had genuinely felt racially insulted back then, he could have reported it to EA immediately. Instead, they reconciled the next day. Because there were only “jokes” in the group chat.
According to Nawid, another pro from FaZe got hold of the screenshot, who has a problem with him. That person forwarded the screen to EA. This led to the suspension which Nawid considers unfair.
As a Muslim, he respects everyone and therefore does not want to racially insult anyone. He often says in real life that he “shaves someone’s head” and has said this to other FIFA professionals as well.
This is what the two are said to have said: From the screens that Nawid shares, it is clear that Jas says things like: “I would flatten you if we weren’t in such a pussy industry.”
Nawid says: “Get lost before I shave your head.”
At the moment, the atmosphere in FIFA 20 is heated.
