ALTERNATE aTTaX’s Nils “k1to” Gruhne Suspended from FPL for Racist Comment
Nils “k1to” Gruhne of ALTERNATE aTTaX has been suspended from the Faceit Pro League (FPL) for one month due to a racist comment he made during a pick-up game (PUG).
K1to referred to Joao “felps” Vasconcellos as a “f**king monkey” during a European FPL PUG on Mirage yesterday. This derogatory term is aimed at Brazilians, and k1to said it after being killed by felps in the middle of a round. The remark was captured on Adam Friberg’s stream and subsequently posted on Reddit’s /r/GlobalOffensive subreddit.
Shortly after felps became aware of the racist comment, he called k1to out on Twitter. K1to responded, stating that it was not meant to be serious and apologized for his words. Felps then forgave him, acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes and learns from them.
Despite the public resolution on Twitter, FACEIT took action against k1to. Milos “Mikey” Nedeljkovic, FACEIT community relations representative, announced k1to’s one-month suspension from FPL due to the insult. On Twitter, Mikey emphasized that even though players often joke with each other, this particular joke “cannot be acceptable” due to its racist nature.
ALTERNATE aTTaX also issued a statement regarding k1to’s behavior in FPL. The organization informed that the comment was never intended as a racist insult. They explained that the word used has a harmless meaning in German and that k1to was unaware of its implications in other languages. While the organization does not condone the offense caused, they believe that the one-month FPL ban is a sufficient punishment and will not be taking any additional disciplinary action against k1to.