EA bans FIFA player for life after they sent racial abuse to footballer Ian Wright

This follows the teenager being spared a conviction in a court ruling this week.

Publisher Electronic Arts has issued a lifetime ban to a FIFA player who sent racial abuse to the footballer Ian Wright.

As reported by Eurogamer, 18-year-old Patrick O'Brien lost a game in FIFA Ultimate Team last year while they were using the Ian Wright icon card. So, they did the only logical thing: send the real Ian Wright a load – 20 messages – of racist abuse via Instagram in May 2020. The case obviously went to court, with O'Brien apologising and pleading guilty, which led to them being spared a conviction.

Taking to Twitter, Wright said he was "disappointed" by the verdict, saying that the case was about "consequences for acts of racism."

"Seeing this judgment, I can only wonder what deterrent there is for anyone else who spouts this kind of vile racist abuse," the footballer wrote.

While O'Brien isn't facing time in prison for his actions, EA Sports has issued a lifetime ban to them.

"Ian Wright is part of our EA Sports family," said VP of the FIFA brand, David Jackson, in a statement to Eurogamer.

"We hugely value his partnership and support, and we also want him to know he has our support. Last year, Ian was subject to a terrible, racist verbal attack by a player who lost a match of FIFA 20. This behaviour by the player was unacceptable on every level, and we will not tolerate it. Our Positive Play Charter guides our actions in a situation like this, and we've taken the action to ban the player permanently from playing or accessing our games. Racism must stop. We are committed to continuing our work in positive play, through actions that will make our communities fun, fair, and safe for everyone."