FIFA 23’s latest squad update has removed Brentford striker Ivan Toney from the game after he was hit with an eight month ban by England’s Football Association for betting against his own team. According toSky News, Toney bet against his own team 13 times between August 2017 and March 2018 – 11 times against former team, Newcastle United, and twice against the team he was loaned to, Wigan.
These bets go directly against the FA’s betting policy for professional club players. As a result, EA has decided to remove Toney from FIFA 23 as well. While the eight-month ban by the FA is understandable, some players thought it was pretty rich of EA to remove a player for betting, while the company continues to sell loot boxes to children. EA has long been criticized for its use of its FIFA Ultimate Team loot boxes, which havecontinued in FIFA 23.
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As pointed out byDexerto, a number of people have come out saying it’s hypocritical of EA to remove a player for betting while selling loot boxes to children. In fact many European countries have declared that the game’sloot box system is akin to gambling. In fact,EA has even stopped declaring the revenue it makes via FUTafter the allegations were made.
FIFA content creatorLukedutchhdid not hold back in his criticism of EA and FIFA after the news about Toney’s removal from the game broke. “Fifa literally promote gambling to children. This whole thing is so [****ing] pathetic,” he Tweeted. “Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling. Biggest hypocrites of all time.”
FIFA’s squad updates are primarily targeted towards real life updates in a team’s squad, including their overall rating based on the players' current form. With that in mind, there were also thosepointing out that EA is merely reflecting the FA’s decision, rather than removing Toney as a stand against gambling.
Speaking of loot boxes, Blizzard and Plaion were recently fined by the PEGI Complaints Board and Enforcement Committee for not communicating that Diablo: Immortal and Hunt: Showdown featured loot boxes.
“Both games were published in 2022 and although they contain paid random items (like loot boxes or card packs), this was not disclosed to PEGI when the games were submitted for a rating license,” said the rating agency in a statement. “Since this amounts to a violation of the rules described in the PEGI Code of Conduct, the PEGI Enforcement Committee sanctioned both companies with a fine of €5000.”
EA has been selling card packs since FIFA Ultimate Team was introduced, and has shown no signs of slowing down despite the amount of flack FIFA has received.
