Zlatan Ibrahimovic came up with some questions about the licensing of his likeness in FIFA 21 which may force EA to consider the usage of his likeness in the game.
FIFA 21 is usually winning the license war against the rival Pro Evolution Soccer series but Konami made some strides in that department lately, claiming a few big licenses for their own exclusive rights. Therefore, when EA signed an exclusivity deal with Inter and AC Milan, it was paraded around for a while but someone either forgot to pass the memo to Zlatan Ibrahimovic or he was exempt from the deal.
These are the most likely reasons why he is now questioning FIFA 21's usage of his name and face to make money and it seems to have built up some frustration in the star player. He posted a tweet stating that he is not aware of being a member of FIFPro and if he is there, he was "put there without any real knowledge through some weird manouver[sic]".
He continued by stating he never allowed FIFA.com or FIFPro to make money using his likeness and alleged that "somebody is making profit on [his] name and face without any agreement all these years", adding that it's time to investigate.
This sentiment was shared by Gareth Bale, who noted the situation is interesting and asked what FIFPro might be.
Right now, the situation is still unclear on who is in the right but that didn't stop the fans from making memes about Ibra being mad he got only 52 pace in the latest FIFA iteration, a damning attribute since only speedy players are usually valued in the game.
EA has subsequently contacted us with their official statement, reading as follows:
"EA SPORTS FIFA is the world's leading football video game, and to create an authentic experience year after year we work with numerous leagues, teams and individual talent to secure the rights of player likeness to include in our game. One of those is a long-standing relationship with the global representative of professional football players, FIFPro, who partner with a number of licensors to negotiate deals that benefit the players and their unions."
