FIFA 17
No Iceland national team as FIFA 17 launches in US today
The Iceland team that grabbed headlines at Euro 2016 has been left out of Electronic Arts's new FIFA 17 video game due to a dispute over image rights.
Gaming fans in the US will have their chance to get the game ahead of fans in other regions as EA Sports acclaimed FIFA 17 game goes on sale in other areas as of midnight September 29.
At a special launch event held in London last night, world champion Mohamad Al-Bacha claimed: “FIFA 17 really is amazing - it’s much more difficult that the old one though so you need to be more skilled rather than lucky, which is a good thing.'
Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus is the star of the cover of the new 2017 edition after winning an online poll.
The major talking point ahead of the games release however is the absence of the Iceland team that grabbed headlines at Euro 2016 has been left out of Electronic Arts's FIFA 17 video game due to a dispute over image rights, the country's soccer chiefs said.
The Football Association of Iceland told Reuters it was approached by EA after the team's successful run at the European Championship, but it turned down the company's offer of $15,000 to use its image rights in the hugely popular game, which comes out annually and features club and international teams.
Icelandic FA president Geir Thorteinsson said EA, which has yet to respond to a request for comment from Reuters, declined to negotiate and the game will be released without the Icelandic team.
Thorsteinsson said that while he says he understood their position, he was disappointed with how the company had behaved. "They were under pressure and maybe they would need more time to discuss these things," he said, "but it's about fair and open negotiations, about respect and how you deal with us. "I feel very badly treated by this hugely profitable company," he added.
Iceland and Malmo defender Kari Arnason said that most of the players he had been in touch with would be in the game anyway with their club sides, but that it would have been good for Icelandic football to have the international side in there too.
