Ibrahimovic has a problem with EA Sports

On Monday night Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeted in a polemical tone against EA Sports, the production company of the video game FIFA. The Swede's accusation would be that fifa would have his face and name without the permission of the player, who was very irritated by the matter. His request is addressed in particular to FIFPro, the trade union body that protects professional footballers in Europe: Ibrahimovic said that he did not know that he was registered on FIFPro cards and that he had never allowed the two activities to make money with his title.

The protest against FIFA was also joined by Ibra Gareth Bale, the Tottenham striker, who on Twitter tagged Zlatan Ibrahimovic wondering what FIFPro was, proving that he apparently does not know the association for footballers either. The Tweet went viral within minutes and many fans of the Swede - who has 7 million followers on Twitter - responded to the footballer. In fact, it was immediately pointed out to him that his club, AC Milan, would have an agreement with EA Sports to grant the image rights of its players, as well as all clubs that agree to register on the video game with name, logo and players. There would in practice be a contract between the clubs and the video game, but not between the players, while for the issue of FIFPro it is curious that Ibrahimovic does not know its existence, being, however, a guardian body that has existed since 1965. As specified in the Gazzetta dello Sport, EA Sports has been granting player titles from FIFPro since the 1990s, so the faces and names of players can appear on the video game since 1996. And it is also the reason for the FIFA name: the agreement, born in 1993, allowed EA Sports to call the first Fifa International Soccer edition.

Mino Raiola, Ibrahimovic's agent, also replied to the Swede, feeling perplexed about the matter and asking for an answer. The controversy comes at an ambiguous time for Ibrahimovic. The striker has returned from a brace with AC Milan and the consequent lead of the Serie A goalscorers' standings, but in the same game in which he reached the finish line (against Napoli) he was injured for three weeks, a critical stay considering Ibrahimovic's weight in the economy of AC Milan's results.