With Ivan Toney suspended from playing football, EA has kicked him out of FIFA 23 too, prompting a backlash from some players.
Earlier this month, Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney was found to have made multiple bets against his own club, earning himself a hefty fine and a suspension from ‘all football and football-related activity’ for the next eight months.
Following the news, EA has opted to suspend him from FIFA 23 as well, with players quickly learning of his removal following a recent update to the game.
This has prompted accusations of hypocrisy from fans who argue that FIFA’s own Ultimate Team mode is guilty of promoting gambling.
As a reminder, in Ultimate Team you can earn players through the game’s equivalent of loot boxes, which can be purchased with real money. Since you won’t know what the contents are until you buy them, many believe this makes the loot boxes tantamount to gambling.
Countries like the Netherlands and Belgium certainly believe so, having banned loot boxes for violating their gambling laws, and the topic remains an ongoing debate here in the UK.
Ergo, some people think it’s a bit rich for EA to remove Toney because of his gambling offences. One Twitter user, Lukedutchh, calls it ‘f***ing pathetic,’ adding ‘Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling. Biggest hypocrites of all time.’
Several others agree, lambasting EA for the double standards though there has been some pushback. Not just from those who disagree with the ‘loot boxes are gambling’ argument but those who think EA isn’t taking some sort of moral high ground and is just keeping things consistent.
The FIFA games are football simulators so, if a player has been suspended in real life, it makes sense for EA to match that in-game. It’s also been pointed out that EA may not have had a hand in decision and was requested to do so by the FIFA organisation itself.
Plus, Toney hasn’t been suspended just for gambling. The problem was that he was placing bets on his own team, including for matches he was taking part in, as well as bets on his team to lose.
Bunch of hypocrites 😭😭😭😭
— Andy🇦🇱 (@kruja00) May 27, 2023
Performative.. that’s all EA sports is
— Azula (@Solomon__Bennet) May 27, 2023
Heyheyhey its not gambling. They’re “surprise mechanics” 💀wonder who’ll earn the prize for most hated company, EA or blizzard
— Winter (@beaniest_bean_) May 27, 2023
Don’t think it’s them trying to take the moral high ground or whatever, I think they’re just trying to reflect that he’s not gonna play until January so they’ve made it so you can’t play with him so it’s realistic.
— Tatty 🔴⚪ (@oli_tatty) May 27, 2023
Since the game is tied to Fifa, they probably have to respect all decisions made by Fifa. Really don’t think this is a decision made just by ea.
— Fayaz Sadiq (@FayazSadiq7) May 27, 2023
Gambling and betting on your team to lose are 2 very separate things
— Anthony1994 (@Anthony199411) May 27, 2023
EA’s also no stranger to removing players from the FIFA games. Both Mason Greenwood and Marc Overmars were taken out of FIFA 2022 last year over sexual harassment allegations.
EA hasn’t issued any sort of statement regarding Toney’s removal so it’s unclear if it ever plans to add him back in. We have contacted EA and will update this article should it respond, but it’s unlikely that Toney will come back to FIFA 23.
Since his real-life suspension lasts for eight months, FIFA 23 will be old hat by that point and everyone will have moved onto its next game, EA Sports FC.
It may not have the FIFA name anymore, but EA Sports FC is pretty much set to be FIFA 24 in everything but name and is expected to launch later this year.
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