Owen 'smooya' Butterfield has been indefinitely banned from FACEIT Pro League for CS:GO, according to multiple sources. The indefinite suspension will be available for review in the coming weeks and is not permanent, sources tell Dexerto.


“After recent events + many clips that resurfaced we decided to bench Smooya in FPL," says FACEIT's Milos 'Mikey' Nedeljkovic in a screenshot obtained by Dexerto. "To give him some time to clear his thoughts and adjust his behavior, which recently was out of control in the FPL.

"He will reflect on everything and calm down without potentially saying any career ending words in FPL, so we are giving him some time off to clear his head. Just wanted you guys to know why you won’t see him around.”


This decision from FACEIT comes as a result of smooya's actions in a disagreement with OpTic Gaming's Ismail "refrezh" Ali, where he admitted to telling refrezh to "kill himself.”

Smooya explained in a Twitch clip that he had provoked refrezh in an attempt to get him to try harder in the game. In a now deleted tweet, smooya stated: “Thanks for game @refrezhCS, don't queue FPL if you're in a bad mood or something, don't waste my time thanks!”

Smooya stepped down from BIG's active roster on February 1. Smooya stepped down from BIG's active roster on February 1.


FACEIT Pro League is an online CS:GO matchmaking league for professional and aspiring professional players. Every month, players compete for a prize pool based on their performance in solo-queue matchmaking.

To qualify for the FACEIT Pro League, players must earn a promotion through FACEIT Pro League Challenger or be a member of a professional team.


Smooya, a professional CS:GO player from the UK, recently opted to step down from the majority German roster of BIG. The AWPer cited difficulties with fitting into the BIG system as his reason for the decision.

Dexerto reported on February 1 that smooya would be trying out with Denial Esports' Counter-Strike lineup. The Brit played with the South African team on February 3 in the IEM Sydney 2019 online qualifiers but a full-time move is unlikely to materialize.