Sweden’s immortal demigod, Zlatan Ibrahimović, perhaps for the first time realized today that his likeness has been used in video games without his express permission. And I didn’t like it.
His sudden realization came naturally on Twitter, where Zlatan wondered aloud who had actually given EA Sports permission to use his character on the FIFA series and why he wasn’t getting paid to do it:
Among the countless brain-dead answers from people who don’t know the difference between FIFA (tThe world association for sport and also the name of a major video game series) and FIFPro (a global alliance of players’ associations) came from international star Gareth Bale who had a similar question:
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It has long been known that both FIFA and rivals PES Receive a license from FIFPro each year, which in turn gives publishers access to the faces and names of tens of thousands of players from around the world (the teams and leagues in these games, however, must be negotiated separately).
Especially in Zlatan’s case EA Sports even signed a special deal with its club, AC Milan, in August that gave them access to Milan’s badges, shirts, stadium and, yes, its players too.
Even so, you can’t blame the players for reacting like that! FIFPro, individual players’ associations, clubs and agents could have explained this better and enlightened the players before it ever got to the point where they publicly questioned it.
But that’s natural (sorry, Gareth) in the money-soaked landscape of European professional football, where marketing agreements, licensing agreements and other payments are often as elusive as they are lucrative. It’s a sport full of corruption and excessive agent fees, and if two stars want to poke a few holes in it and see what’s going on – even if they ultimately prove wrong – then go for it, guys.
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