FIFA 23 has removed Ivan Toney in the latest update, and fans are outraged.
The removal followed Toney’s guilty plea to 232 counts of gambling.
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In real life, he has been suspended for eight months, with the sentence reduced due to his guilty plea.
The charges include several counts of betting against his own team when he was playing for Newcastle United.
EA Sports has previously removed players due to real-life legal drama.
Mason Greenwood was removed from FIFA 22 after he was accused of and arrested for sexual assault.
However, fans have spoken out about Toney’s removal, believing it is hypocritical.
FIFA’s most popular mode is FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), where players create a dream team of their favourite players.
In order to use a certain player, you must first own that player’s card, which is usually found in packs.
While you can choose the card you want from the in-game Transfer Market, good players can sell for staggering prices.
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For example, a 98-rated Pelé costs around 3.2million FUT coins, a real-life price of around £200.
Because of this players try their luck with FUT packs, which contain a random assortment of players.
However, you aren’t guaranteed the card you want, and it can end up more expensive if you’re on a string of bad luck.
While the packs can be earned in-game, players often have to resort to buying packs with real money in order to stay competitive.
FIFA has been accused by many of promoting gambling to children through this lootbox-style system.
As spotted by The Gamer, following the decision to remove Toney for gambling, one FIFA player wrote: “FIFA literally promote gambling to children.
“This whole thing is so f**king pathetic.
“Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling.
“Biggest hypocrites of all time.”
It is not clear if or when Toney will return to the game, but for now, those who previously had Toney in their FUT no longer do.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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