EA has suspended UK FIFA pro Tassal “Faze Tass” Rushan from competing in qualifiers and live events for a currently undisclosed length of time.
Tass breached EA’s code of conduct when he used the word ‘fag’ in one of his FIFA videos on YouTube.
He used the word to describe a player card – Inter Milan midfielder Matías Vecino – who kept appearing for him in-game.
“Oh my God that guy has actually cursed me,” he said. “We’re seeing this freaking fag again.”
I am sorry to anyone I offended with what I said, I hold myself to a higher standard & I failed to live by FaZe & EA’s code of conduct. It was a wake up call that I need to be more careful with what I say, I’ll use it as a learning curve moving ahead, I’ll be back competing soon.
— Tass (@FaZeTass) November 5, 2018
Tass later said in an explanation video: “Why did I say it? It’s a very unfortunate, unintentional misunderstanding from my end.
“Due to where I’ve been brought up, the connotation of that word from my perspective – until now – was just another word for prick or idiot or rubbish. Not even 1% of me knew it had any type of derogatory connotation towards homosexuality at all.
“If I knew it did, there is no way I’m saying anything. I would never say anything like that, trust me. It just comes down to stupidity and unintention from my perspective. Internationally, I should have been aware of the meaning of the word and how it could be perceived, and I didn’t. So that’s my fault.”
You can watch the video in full here:
Tass also gave an apology to his fans and others in the community.
“I want to apologise to EA, to Faze, I’ve let them down, I’ve let myself down,” he added.
“I really want to come back from this. I hope you accept my apology and I come back as soon as possible.”
Tass joined Faze at the start of this year.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
