EA Sports have dropped Iceland from FIFA 17 after an alleged dispute over image and trademark rights.
The Iceland team can feel rightly proud of their recent achievements after thunder-clapping their way to the quarter-finals of the European Championship this summer.
However, anyone hoping to recreate that inspiring run in the forthcoming FIFA 17 looks set to be disappointed.
The BBC Sport website reports that the Icelandic team will not be included in this year’s edition of EA Sports football franchise. The dispute arose after EA allegedly only offered two million Icelandic krona for use of the team’s image rights. At today’s exchange rate that equates to around £13,400.
Geir Thorsteinsson, president of Icelandic football association, said to the BBC, “They are the ones buying these rights and they almost want it for free.”
“I really feel if we are giving away rights, or offering rights, it has to be proper negotiations and fair fees.”
According to VGchartz, last year’s edition of the game, FIFA 16, has sold nearly 8.5 million units worldwide.
It will be a shame if the issue can’t be resolved. The progress of the Icelandic team was one of the highlights of the recent championships and our hope is that an agreement is reached so the team can be reinstated via a future game update. EA has yet to comment.
