EA Sports FC 27 players say unexpected duplicate cards are appearing in Ultimate Team, prompting concerns about their accounts. Some have asked EA whether the unexplained items could leave them facing penalties, even though they say they did nothing to create them.
TalkEsport reviewed player reports on EA’s forums, a community manager’s replies and a publicly uploaded item-data file. EA has requested evidence to investigate the reports, but its responses do not establish what caused the items to appear. TalkEsport has not independently reproduced the reported behaviour.
What FC 27 players are reporting
In an Ultimate Team duplication report, PC player Rampage_A7X described finding additional cards after relisting expired items. They said the unexpected versions carried First Owner status, despite involving players they had previously bought.
The player claimed both versions could be sold and that the extra items eventually pushed their transfer list beyond its capacity. Another participant, WoYaoOuDaKa, reported a list showing 108 items against a 100-item limit. However, that player said the unexpected cards could not be sent back to their club, illustrating differences between the accounts.
In a follow-up, Rampage_A7X reported at least 20 apparent duplicates and said the items appeared across the game, Web App and Companion App. Those remain player-reported observations; a shared symptom does not establish that every account has the same underlying problem.
EA asks players for evidence
Community manager EA_Pulsar acknowledged the reports in the EA forum discussion about unexpected transfer-list items.
“We’ll review the reports with the team and pass along the information provided here.”
EA_Pulsar, EA community manager
A subsequent request sought affected item details, platforms and screenshots, including whether the cards showed First Owner status. The replies reviewed by TalkEsport contain no confirmed cause, fix date or specific instructions for handling the unexpected items.
What the uploaded item data shows
Rampage_A7X also uploaded a file they described as data collected from the Web App’s network requests. TalkEsport inspected the publicly attached item records, which contain five entries with different item IDs.
Each entry contains an owners value of 1 and an untradeable value of false. Those fields are consistent with the account’s description of tradeable, first-owner items. However, the uploaded file does not show their full acquisition histories or establish that the game created unauthorised copies.
The five records concern different player assets; they do not provide matching original-and-duplicate pairs for comparison. That limits what can be concluded from the attachment alone. Confirming the origin of each item would require additional evidence, such as EA’s transaction records or a verified recording of the behaviour.
Why the FUT Gallery needs careful interpretation
FC 27’s new collection system adds another distinction. EA’s official Ultimate Team deep dive explains that the FUT Gallery keeps records of eligible items passing through a club. Cards can continue contributing to Gallery Sets after a player sells them or submits them into a Squad Building Challenge.
Consequently, seeing an old card in the Gallery does not itself demonstrate that a usable copy has returned. The behaviour requiring investigation is an additional item becoming available in the club or on the transfer list. Distinguishing those cases matters before treating screenshots as evidence of an economic exploit.
The transfer system has particular relevance this year. As outlined in TalkEsport’s coverage of the FC 27 launch update, EA announced a larger share of tradeable rewards across Ultimate Team. Its stated aim is to give players more flexibility when improving their squads through the Transfer Market.
The ban concern remains unanswered
EA’s published FC rules prohibit exploiting bugs and list potential sanctions including Coin removal, Transfer Market restrictions and account bans. However, those general rules do not establish how EA will handle items that allegedly appeared without deliberate player action.
The available evidence does not establish a ban wave linked to these reports. Nor does it justify assuming that every unexpected card represents misconduct. Players noticing unexplained items can preserve screenshots and item details, then report the circumstances through EA’s official support channels before attempting to profit from them.
TalkEsport previously covered EA’s commitment to improve communication after FC 26’s Ultimate Team complaints. These reports present a specific question for that commitment: what should affected players do with the items while EA examines their origin?
A clear explanation would help players distinguish ordinary account activity from an item error and understand how to proceed. For affected players, guidance on handling the unexpected cards matters alongside any technical investigation. Their reports leave questions about the items’ origin and account consequences that EA’s public replies have yet to answer.
