The full version of the appeal I submitted against an unfair ban

Due to the 1000-character limitation you imposed on the defense section for an unfair ban, I am sharing my full defense here. I am ready to answer any questions or clarifications you may request. After this defense, I will list—item by item—the bugs that have remained unfixed since October 2025 in the Bug Reports section (although you will most likely not read them either). If this unfair ban is not lifted, this will be the final action I take for this game, and I will part ways with it permanently.

Hello,

I am writing to express the deep disappointment I felt when I received your email yesterday stating that my Steam account had been permanently banned, and to formally present my defense regarding this situation.

I am a 38-year-old teacher living in Turkey. After many years, I decided to return to the football game I have always enjoyed—formerly FIFA, now FC—because I appreciate your FC 26 content and because I support Galatasaray. You may not be fully aware of the internet and infrastructure issues we face here in Turkey, so I will explain my situation in detail and respond to each of the “possible violations” mentioned in your email.

I purchased FC 26 in October 2026. I have a PC that easily meets the game’s requirements and, by Turkish standards, a very fast internet connection (1000 Mbps). Yet from the very first day, in every single match, I constantly received the “inconsistent connection” warning, and this persisted until December 3, 2026. (Please verify this on your end using your data logs: check whether I had unstable connection issues in matches before and after December 3.)

Despite having 1000 Mbps internet, I reported the ping issues to my ISP multiple times. As a result, they replaced my modem, my router, and even the ethernet cables. While my internet performed flawlessly in every application except FC 26, I continued to experience severe ping fluctuations only within FC 26. This significantly harmed playability, and during peak evening hours I could not even connect to EA servers at all.

On December 3, 2026, I discovered “ExitLag”, a paid service that helps stabilize ping values in online games. After subscribing to this service, I was able to reduce my fluctuating 60–70 ms ping to a more stable 45–55 ms, although I occasionally still saw the “inconsistent connection” warning. This finally allowed me to enjoy the game properly.

Now I ask you directly: How is using a tool like ExitLag—which only stabilizes ping—considered cheating?
If the use of this application were prohibited, then playing FC 26 under my conditions would have been impossible. Moreover, your anti-cheat system would not have allowed me to launch the game at all if ExitLag were truly considered a cheat.

Because of the ping problems, my passes and shots were never synchronized with the gameplay. I only overcame these issues after stabilizing my connection. As someone who has been playing games for years and has never once been banned from any game (whether on Steam or elsewhere), I truly cannot understand why I am being permanently banned under the accusation of cheating.

Now I would like to address the other “possible violations” you mentioned:

– “Intentionally losing matches or letting someone else play your games to gain an advantage is considered cheating.”

You listed this as a potential violation. Let me ask you this:

In the Gauntlet event, you yourselves required:
“Play 12 matches / Score in 9 matches.”
And when a player scored in 9 matches, the system counted all objectives as completed—even if the “Play 12 matches” requirement was not fulfilled.
Isn’t this your own event design?

Naturally, many players intentionally lost matches after scoring a goal to complete the full reward path. If this is considered a bannable offense, then every single player who earned the main event reward “Scream Benzema” should also be banned.

Outside of this event, I never intentionally lost a single match and I have never let anyone else play on my behalf. My progression from Division 8 to Division 5 is solely due to resolving my ping problems and therefore finally being able to play the game properly.

– “Farming or obtaining content/rewards through illegal means for personal or commercial gain is prohibited.”

If this is the accusation, then I reject it completely.

I have never farmed, never bought coins, and never engaged in illegal transactions. I occasionally bought and sold certain cards with 4–5k margins to increase my coin balance and strengthen my squad. If normal trading is considered a crime, then there is no point in having a market system in this game at all.

Before concluding, I would like to ask you several important questions:

1. Would someone who cheats purchase the DELUXE version of the game?
2. Would a cheater spend money on FC Points packages worth 100 and 50 Euros?
   Why would a cheater rely on such low-probability pack rewards?
3. Would a cheater upload videos of in-game bugs to your official forum to help you fix the game?
   Only players who care about the game do that.
   (You did not fix the bugs I submitted, nor did you respond.)
   Here are the posts you have ignored:
4. Would a cheater spend hours completing tasks in the FC HUB Pass system—tasks completely unrelated to Ultimate Team—just to reach Level 40?
   Who would possibly need that if they were cheating?

I have invested this much effort just to be able to play and enjoy your game. If your response to all this is a permanent ban, then you leave me with nothing but disappointment.

I categorically reject all accusations directed at me and respectfully request that my ban be lifted.

Sincerely,