The game has changed. This is usually heard from fans on the terraces. But a similar opinion maybe coming out of EA Sports HQ, as footballers begin to question their name, image and likeness being featured in the popular FIFA franchise, without consent and without reward.
Players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic have become increasingly vocal on the FIFA game series using his personal name image and likeness without permission.
“Who gave FIFA EA Sports permission to use my name and face? FIFPro? I’m not aware of being a member of FIFPro, and if I’m, I was put there without any real knowledge through some weird maneuver. And for sure, I never allowed FIFA or FIFPro to make money using me. Somebody has been making a profit on my name and face without any agreement all these years. Time to investigate.”
Ibrahimovic’s argument is that the EA Sports deal with FIFPRO (the International Players Union) goes beyond collective rights, but instead focuses more intensley on individual playing rights. It’s hard to disagree.
The grievance goes beyond a footballer not giving permission to be featured in the game. There appears to be a lot of confusion over FIFPRO’s role and where the money is actually going. It certainly is not to the players, many of whom dont undertstand the role of FIFPRO or that it even exists.
Footballers now adays can earn substantial amounts of money both on and off the pitch. It is no surprise that the relatioship between EA Sports and FIFPRO has raised some concerns from the agent community.
The growth in image rights value is set to be a growth area for all athletes and an increasing important issue for agents to protect their clients.
The release of FIFA22 arrived with its usual fan fair. Its promotions featuring players discovering their player ratings are gold for EA Sports. They have the buy in from the majority of players and the fans follow in the millions. It appears FIFPRO and EA Sports have ignored the noise again for another year. But the question remains, how long will the players remain loyal and when will the shouts of exploitation from the games stars becomes deafening.