The rumour comes via industry insider Jeff Grubb, who announced on his premium show that his sources claim the decision to change the name comes after issues with the football governing body the franchise is named after. “EA Sports Football Club, EA Sports FC, that’s the name of the game,” Grubb said (thanks, VGC). “I saw trademarks for it, I thought that could be just a feature like an online mode, [but] I asked around about it [and] that’s it, that’s the name.” It follows reports last month that EA boss Andrew Wilson claimed in an internal meeting that the FIFA licence is “an impediment” to the publisher’s ambitions for the football series, claiming FIFA had precluded EA from expanding beyond the usual gameplay modes, or “broader digital ecosystems”, and the only value the FIFA licence brings in a non-World Cup year is “four letters on the front of the box”. In October last year, it was reported that EA was exploring the idea of dropping the FIFA name from its games, as the current agreement comes to an end later this year and FIFA reportedly wants “more than double” from EA to renew its licence. ICYMI, the legendary footballer Diego Maradona has now been “suspended” from FIFA 22, following a legal dispute which claimed EA had negotiated with the wrong party and therefore did not have the rights to use his likeness. In a message that appears when starting up the game, EA states: “Due to a third party legal dispute, we must suspend Diego Maradona from appearing in FIFA Ultimate Team Packs, Ultimate Draft and the Soccer Aid World XI team. “As such, Diego Maradona Icon Items will no longer be made available in Packs, SBCs and FUT Draft, and their price range has been fixed until further notice. We share our fans’ disappointment and hope to bring one of football’s greatest icons back in the game at some point in the future.”
