EA Sports was forced to pull out 13 female players from its "FIFA 16" lineup due to eligibility issues claimed by the NCAA. These 13 female athletes will now be deprived to represent their countries, as declared by EA. The upcoming footbal simulation game will be released on September 22.
NCAA told EA that putting these 13 players in "FIFA 16", who are either currently enrolled or have plans to go to school, might risk their eligibility, stated in a ESPN report. "We do not agree with this position," EA stated in their statement which appeared on their website on Thursday. The developer assured that all rights have been acquired accordingly with official governing bodies. Likewise, the company had been firm that these student-athletes will not receive any compensation at their end.
EA went on saying that they believe that the NCAA's decision denies the 13 athletes to embody their countries in the game. Still, they had to cut out them from "FIFA 16", so as not to jeopardize their eligibility.
These female athletes were supposed to make "FIFA 16" the first ever game in the series to have introduced or put in female players in its lineup, according to PC Gamer. But due to NCAA's hold over these college players, EA was forced to remove them from the game. Quoting what was written in the NCAA website about Amateurism: The NCAA membership has adopted amateurism rules to ensure the students' priority remains on obtaining a quality educational experience and that all of student-athletes are competing equitably. And this amateurism rule covers and prohibits players from: undertaking professional contracts, acquiring money from playing, receiving money beyond their actual and necessary expenses, playing with professionals, or trying out, practicing, or competing with a professional team.
Kadeisha Buchanan is one of the six Canadian female players that were dropped from "FIFA 16", according to Fox Sports news. Buchanan is a member of the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Canadian national team. She had won the Young Player Award at the 2015 Women's World Cup. Other players who were cut off from the game's lineup are Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence, Janine Beckie, Rebecca Quinn and Sura Yekka - from Canada; Tanya Samarzich, Greta Espinoza, Christina Murillo, Amanda Perez, Emily Alvarado, and Maria Sanchez - from Mexico; and Celia Jimenez from Spain.
Just recently, EA had to discontinue one of its favored video game series - "NCAA Football" - because of a lawsuit it got involved in claiming that the company had illegally used college football and basketball players' names and likenesses in the game. And in the end, NCAA and EA Sports lost from that case when a US federal judge approved a $60-million settlement for college athletes in a class-action lawsuit filed against them.
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