Brazilian CS:GO Star Fer Fined by MIBR for 'Racist' Comments During a Twitch Stream
Cover Image Courtesy: DreamHack - Adela Sznajder | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: Fer
- MIBR fines Brazilian star Fernando “fer” Alvarenga for making racist remarks during a recent Twitch stream.
- Fer according to the clip attached below lost his cool after one of his viewers called him out for being racist.
- The player has now issued a public apology and has even released a small clip of himself educating the audience about racism.
Brazilian CS:GO player Fernando “fer” Alvarenga has been fined by his esports organization MIBR for making 'racist' comments while streaming on Twitch. According to a rough translation of what transpired wholly in Brazilian on the player’s Twitch channel during one his stream sessions, fer got into a bit of a tussle with a few viewers who called him out for being ‘racist’.
The whole ordeal started after a few viewers asked questions about the player (fer) being sad due to the state of his hair which they described as being “hard and bad”, to which the Brazilian replied by saying that “My hair is good, it is quite smooth,” showcasing the state of his hair by pulling them back.
While he said this, one of the viewers called him out for being ‘racist’ to which fer reacted by shouting “Why racist? Is everything racism to you guys?” following his statement by showing ‘the finger’ on the live stream. But fer did not stop there, he went on to mock the person who called him out for being a racist by doing a silly voiceover, and then things escalated rather too much as he hurled plenty of abusive and obnoxious things towards the viewer.
Note: The clip has been translated above by taking u/danielord92's explanation as reference.
Why would such a thing be considered racist has been explained by u/danielord92 who states that,
“In Brazil, we are used to opposing what is ‘good hair’ and ‘bad hair’. Bad hair as the name suggests is not a good or a desirable thing and is hence referred to as ‘hard hair’, otherwise known as ‘afro hair’.
Why is it a ‘bad thing’ to have this kind off hair? Well, because that means you have quite a considerable amount of African descent. The ‘harder’ your hair is, the worse it is, because you are considered ‘blacker’.
Brazil was the last country in the world to abolish slavery and racism is structural. He probably didn't mean to profoundly hurt anyone, but without him realising it, he actually did.”
The incident which took place earlier this week was finally acknowledged by MIBR earlier today after the clip went viral. The organization condemned his actions and fined him as a punishment for his behaviour. In their apology statement, they stated that,
“Fer, one of our players made a mistake. He was wrong. He made comments in his stream that do not reflect our values and we believe that they do not reflect his values as well.”
They further spoke about how many times language or phrases from players have been taken to an extreme length, interpreted wrongly, and disconnected from the speaker’s intentions.
“However it cannot be an excuse to hide behind it. Fer knows and acknowledges that this type of language entails a narrative that is wrong and deeply damaging.”
Though the amount of fine was not disclosed in the statement, the organization made it clear that they will work with fer and choose organizations that promote racial equality, and this amount of fine will be allocated to these institutions.
Note: MIBR's statement has been translated into English using Google Translate.
Following MIBR’s statement, the player himself came forward to finally change his stance on the entire situation, by saying that “I apologize if I somehow gave an impression of racism in my stream.”
In the clip attached fer can be seen speaking about racism and educating his audience about it.
The player was seen in action playing against Chaos Esports Club earlier today at BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Showdown, where MIBR drew the match ‘15-15’ to lead their group at the end of the day’s play.
