AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had the whole world talking about him due to his insane scoring run in Serie A, but has opened a new debate with FIFA 21 makers EA SPORTS over his game face rights.
His team is sitting pretty at the top of the table in Italy’s top flight, and after scoring two goals in Milan’s 3-1 victory over Napoli on November 22, much of the talk surrounding the player was about a possible inclusion in Team of the Week 9.
That being said, if there’s one thing Zlatan does better than anybody, it’s control the conversation about him.
Ibrahimovic challenges EA over image rights
He certainly did that on November 23, as he took to Twitter to blast EA SPORTS for using his game face without “permission” – he says.
In a series of tweets, the player said: “Who gave FIFA EA Sport permission to use my name and face? I’m not aware to be a member of Fifpro and if I am I was put there without any real knowledge through some weird manouver. And for sure I never allowed FIFA.com or Fifpro to make money using me.
“Somebody is making profit on my name and face without any agreement all these years. Time to investigate,” he adds in a follow-up.
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Somebody is making profit on my name and face without any agreement all these years.Time to investigate
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) November 23, 2020
As expected, the move has sent shockwaves on the social media platform.
The Swede is accusing EA SPORTS of using his face to make money, though his club AC Milan actually signed an exclusive agreement this year to allow the developers to use accurate face scans for the entire team. The same goes for other EA Official Partner Clubs, such as Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
There appears to be some confusion about the situation, between player, club and developer, and this story is likely to be a developing one. Should we hear more from Zlatan or other official sources, we’ll be sure to keep this article updated.
Fans of AS Roma will know the feeling of seeing their club restrict devs from using their player likenesses and official club branding in FIFA 21. Should Ibrahimovic pursue this further from a legal standpoint, there’s a chance his likeness could also be restricted for FIFA games in the future.
