It seems that the curse of rights has fallen on Electronic Arts. First, there were the legal problems between Californians and the association for the use of the brand, which seems to be resolved with EA using its own brand for its video games. And now, Diego Armando Maradona will no longer be available in FIFA 22 also for one legal dispute.
Maradona disappears from FIFA 22
Taking into account that FIFA is a video game in which hundreds of clubs and thousands of players are represented, it is not surprising that EA has certain problems with the rights from time to time. It happened with Juventus a few years ago, which became an exclusive team of the Konami franchise. However, what has happened this week with Diego Armando Maradona has had a much more abrupt outcome. Electronic Arts has eliminated all traces of the Argentine star of FIFA 22. This is how it was shown message to players:
«Due to a legal dispute by third parties, we are required to suspend Diego Maradona from the FIFA Ultimate Team packs, the Ultimate Draft and the Soccer Aid World XI team. Therefore, Diego Maradona icon items will no longer be available in packs, SBCs and FUT Draft and their price range will remain at their current value until further notice.
We share the disappointment felt by our fans and look forward to bringing back one of the biggest icons in world football in the future.»
The soccer icon passed away at the age of 60 in November 2020. However, the Argentinian player continued to appear in the FIFA Ultimate Team 22 game mode as a FUT Icon, at four different stages of his sports career. The Maradona player items they were some of the most powerful and coveted in all of FIFA Ultimate Team, with virtually perfect scores.
What does Electronic Arts have to do with all this rights dispute?
This is a serious blow for Maradona’s followers, but also for Electronic Arts. Players who own these assets virtual players will now not be able to use them, despite having paid religiously for packs, raffles and exchanges in the Ultimate Team transfer market.
It is not the first time that Electronic Arts has had problems with image rights of Maradona. Legal problems with both EA and Konami have already been raised in the past, but they were resolved correctly and the Argentine legend ended up taking the field in both titles.
The new controversy is due to the current owners of the image rights of the player. In the past, the studios negotiated the rights with Maradona himself (since the FIFPro license does not cover retired players). Apparently, Electronic Arts signed an agreement with Stefano Ceci, which apparently had the image rights of the Argentine. This man was a former partner of the player. However, after a trial, it was shown that the rights belong to Matías Morla, Diego’s ex-lawyer who is still facing new legal disputes with the player’s daughters. Therefore, the withdrawal of the player from the video game has not depended at all on Electronic Arts. If EA wants Maradona back, they will have to negotiate again. Therefore, the player could return to the title in a few weeks or simply in future installments.
