UK EA FC player Cameron has been falsely accused of posting racist and homophobic slurs online, as an anonymous account attempted to damage his reputation.
Cameron’s organisation SAF Esports found Discord messages seemingly sent by Cameron had been doctored, and their investigation into the matter has cleared his name.
Cameron had contacted his organisaton after receiving a tweet from an anonymous account, and denied the allegations. SAF conducted an investigation and found Cameron to be innocent. They have also published their open findings in this YouTube video on the SAF channel.
The vicious allegations were made a couple of days after Cameron had qualified for the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier, taking place in London on November 10th 2023.
“If the [false] statements would have been believed, the consequences would mean that Cameron would have had his contract with us terminated, and he would’ve been permanently banned from future EA events. It should be investigated who is behind this and they should face punishment, because it’s a very serious allegation. And that person shouldn’t just get away with it.”
Cal, SAF
SAF founder and trader, Cal, commented: “I can’t stress the mental toll this has taken on Cameron. Having lost his nan just recently and with other ongoing issues at home, FC has been his one escape… I can’t imagine why anyone would possibly want to create such evil lies, what they would possibly gain from it?
“People see images online and instantly believe things, we’ve worked hard to prove them wrong. Now it’s all about prepping Cam for his LAN event in London. He has a bright future in this scene that could have been taken away by some quite frankly low life, evil, sadistic person.”
He added on YouTube: “If the [false] statements would have been believed, the consequences would mean that Cameron would have had his contract with us terminated, and he would’ve been permanently banned from future EA events. It should be investigated who is behind this and whoever is behind it should face punishment, because it’s a very serious allegation. And that person shouldn’t just get away with it.”
SAF Esports director Jon added: “It’s easy to publicly point fingers at certain individuals for what has happened due to the timing etc. But I urge caution in the matter, as innocent people may be accused of something they haven’t done. I hope the person who has done this can get the help they need.”
The news comes one month after the EA FC Pro esports circuit was detailed, around the launch of EA FC 24, following EA’s split from FIFA.
It also comes over a year after racism was exposed in the FIFA esports community, with several players sanctioned.
‘We are entering an absurd state of cancel culture, and must all remain vigilant’
Playing with people’s lives is not a game, argues Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco, who shares his opinion on the worrying trend of online cancel culture
It’s so easy nowadays to take things at face value. We scroll endlessly on social media platforms like X and TikTok, and those with harmful or selfish intent are loving it.
A quick soundbite, a headline, a deepfake – it’s easy to look at something, accept it and move onto the next thing.
But in this fast-paced digital age, we need to take more time than ever before when it comes to verifying information.
The court of social media is quick to damn someone without hearing the other side of a story, and to call for heads to roll.
Let’s not forget – Discord messages can easily be manipulated. Screenshots can be forged. Lies can be made.
“In this instance, a promising 19-year-old UK esports player could have had his potential career ruined before it’s barely started. I agree with his organisation – the perpetrator should be outed and reported.”
Sometimes it’s more complicated than this. For example, if it involves an ongoing police investigation, or if something is taken out of context. There’s also the right to be forgotten. If messages from someone back in 2003 surface, and the person has changed drastically since back then, I don’t believe they should be needlessly cancelled.
Sometimes I have to report on matters that are nuanced and not so black and white, and sometimes I can only go on publicly-available information. I’ve covered stories that have been flipped later on, with people later found not guilty, or vice versa.
Regardless, my point is not to take things at face value. This case demonstrates the absurd state of cancel culture we’re in, and raises some serious concerns.
It’s up to all of us to take a measured response when seeing new allegations or claims made against someone. Playing with people’s lives online is not a game, and in my opinion we all need to be more mindful of that.
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.
