Latest version of FIFA franchise was released in October with more than 7,000 players and 700 teamsEA Sports
Top international soccer players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale "are consulting their lawyers about the use of their names and images in video games," according to Dafydd Pritchard of BBC.com. Ibrahimovic this week took to social media to claim that EA Sports' "FIFA" franchise was "making profit on my name and face without any agreement all these years." Bale "joined in, using the hashtag '#TimeToInvestigate.'" The latest version of the game was released in October with "more than 7,000 players, 700 teams and officially licensed access to play in competitions such as the Premier League and Champions League." Games like "Pro Evolution Soccer" "pay for player likenesses and some official team and competition names," while management simulator series "Football Manager" features "licensed competitions and players." Ibrahimovic and Bale have appeared in several versions of "FIFA" (BBC.com, 11/24).
MORE PLAYERS GETTING INVOLVED: THE ATHLETIC's Ali Humayun cited sources as saying that a “growing number of top players are likely to follow the lead of Ibrahimovic and Bale and voice their objections to the use of their likeness in the video game without, they believe, proper consent.” FIFPro, the international players' union, “has a mandate to sell name and likeness rights on behalf of every player from a member nation.” For soccer games to use the “image rights of players, it must either need a specific agreement with their club or with the individual player.” Those rights do not need to come from deals with a league. EPL clubs “sell all their video game licensing rights collectively, with almost all intellectual property included -- from player details to stadium names.” Serie A is the only top European league that has “not collectivised its video game licensing rights” (THEATHLETIC.com, 11/24). Ibrahimovic currently is playing for AC Milan, which in August “signed an exclusive multi-year partnership” with EA Sports (ESPN.com, 11/24).
EA SPORTS RESPONDS: An EA Sports spokesperson said the current situation with Ibrahimovic and Bale is an "attempt to draw FIFA 21 into a dispute between a number of 3rd parties and has little to do with EA Sports." A statement said EA has "contractual rights to include the likeness of all players currently in our game," and the company "acquire these licenses directly from leagues, teams, and individual players." In these instances, "our rights to player likenesses are granted through our club agreement with AC Milan and our long-standing exclusive partnership with the Premier League, which includes all players for Tottenham Hotspur” (THE DAILY).
