Back in May, EA announced that its upcoming title FIFA 16 will include twelve women’s national teams for the first time. Less than a week before the game’s launch, EA has had to remove thirteen female athletes from the game following a warning by NCAA, stating that the athletes are either currently attending or likely to attend NCAA-sanctioned schools in the US, and that their appearance in the game would risk their eligibility for collegiate athletics. The developer wrote on its website:
We do not agree with this position. All rights were secured following standard protocol with national governing bodies and federations, and none of these NCAA student-athletes or potential student athletes were to be individually compensated by EA SPORTS for their inclusion in the game.
We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility.
The athletes who were removed are listed below:
Kadeisha Buchanan, Canada
Jessie Fleming, Canada
Ashley Lawrence, Canada
Janine Beckie, Canada
Rebecca Quinn, Canada
Sura Yekka, Canada
Celia Jiménez, Spain
Tanya Samarzich, Mexico
Greta Espinoza, Mexico
Christina Murillo, Mexico
Amanda Perez, Mexico
Emily Alvarado, Mexico
Maria Sanchez, Mexico
EA said that it’ll continue to update players on the aforementioned athletes as the season unfolds.
FIFA 16 is launching on September 22 in North America and September 25 in Europe for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.
[Source: EA]
