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The Dallas Fuel announced Friday that it has suspended tank Félix "xQc" Lengyel for the entire first stage of the Overwatch League following anti-gay remarks on Thursday about a Houston Outlaws player. The announcement came shortly after the Overwatch League itself issued a four-game suspension and $2,000 fine against xQc on Friday for the incident. The first stage of the Overwatch League ends Feb. 10, and xQc's suspension by the Fuel will end at that time. The organization also said that it will provide focus coaching, physical training and other resources to help xQc improve as a professional to be more reflective of their organization and the league. "We support the Overwatch League's recent decision," the Fuel said in a statement. "We believe in working with our players to help them become the best possible competitors, professionals and teammates. That includes work both inside and outside of competition for Felix." xQc's punishment comes after he directed anti-gay slurs at Houston Outlaws tank Austin "Muma" Wilmot, who is openly gay. The Dallas Fuel player made those comments on his personal Twitch livestream Thursday following the Fuel's 4-0 loss to the Outlaws. Blizzard Entertainment, the operator of the Overwatch League, said that xQc's actions violated the league's code of conduct. "The Overwatch League takes standards of player behavior seriously, whether during league play or otherwise, and is committed to responding swiftly when violations occur," the league said in a statement. Prior to his league-level suspension, the Dallas Fuel said it would take disciplinary action against xQc, including benching the player from Friday's match against the London Spitfire. "I didn't say what I said on stream with malicious intent," xQc said on Twitter on Thursday following the incident. "I legit did not compute the whole thing before. I speak too fast, everything happens too fast. Everything is so fking trash lately. Hope I can turn this into something good, sorry Muma." xQc was banned numerous times from Overwatch, the game itself, for different terms of service violations prior to the start of the league in January. Those violations include a "misuse of [the game's] reporting system" and intentionally throwing games in matchmaking. Those suspensions were not administered by the league, although he was a member of the Fuel at that time. xQc first joined the Fuel in October after competing on various different squads in Overwatch prior to the formation of the Overwatch League. He also competed as part of Team Canada at the Overwatch World Cup in November, where he ultimately won the event's MVP award. This is the second time the Overwatch League has disciplined a player. Philadelphia Fusion tank Su-min "SADO" Kim was suspended for 30 games by the league in November for account boosting.
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