All I did was install joystick drivers

All I did literally was install the drivers for a thrustmaster hotas joystick to see if it would work.  Now I can't start the game because the mere existence of a joystick appears to be flagged as a cheat.   How can I **bleep** this since EA doesn't seem to care to?

EA Javelin Anticheat encountered an error. Please restart your PC.: C:\Program Files\EA\AC\EAAntiCheat.GameService.exe ( 7 ) ( 2 )