Zlatan Ibrahimovic hits back at EA Sports and FIFPro in controversial FIFA 21 spat

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has courted controversy with EA Sports and FIFPro, racking up the issue on social media since the past few days. The 39-year-old had earlier questioned the sports giants for using his image and name in FIFPro without actually bagging any sort of permission from him. Although EA Sports clarified that they possessed complete rights to use a player's likeness in FIFA games, the striker seems to be dissatisfied, mounting further criticism on the gaming giants. 

Also Read | FIFPro And EA Sports respond to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mino Raiola's FIFA 21 claims

EA Sports making money out of my image: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic took to Twitter to question FIFA 21 image rights a week ago. The AC Milan superstar quizzed EA Sports about the requisite permission required to use a player's name and image in the game. He further claimed he wasn't a member of FIFPro and no permission of any sort was taken from his representatives to use his image. 

He slammed EA Sports, claiming that the gaming company was making money out of his name and image all these years, without his information. Tottenham star Gareth Bale also joined the bandwagon as he raised questions on FIFPro, while also insisting it was time to investigate.

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EA Sports clarifies, Ibrahimovic dissatisfied 

EA Sports did not hold back following the criticism from two global superstars. An official statement was released to this effect, which read, "To be very clear, we have contractual rights to include the likeness of all players currently in our game. As already stated, we acquire these licences directly from leagues, teams and individual players."

Ibrahimovic responded harshly this time around. The former Swede striker stated it was not about collective image rights, but the games are based on a player's individual rights. He claims EA Sports hasn't bought the FIFA 21 image rights from FIFPro, AC Milan or the player himself. 

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Mino Raiola delves into Zlatan Ibrahimovic EA Sports fight 

Ibrahimovic's agent Mino Raiola has also hit out at the gaming giants. The super-agent tweeted that neither FIFPro nor AC Milan has access to a player's individual rights. Ibrahimovic echoed similar concerns while quoting his agent's tweet. He tagged EA Sports claiming that he was not a member of FIFPro. 

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Image courtesy: AC Milan Instagram