FIFA 23 fans outraged after “pathetic” removal of Ivan Toney over betting offenses
FIFA 23 fans are furious with EA after the removal of Brentford striker Ivan Toney from the game following the footballer’s eight-month ban by the FA over betting offenses.
On May 26, England international and Brentford striker Ivan Toney admitted to 232 breaches of betting rules, resulting in an eight-month ban from all football activity until 16 January 2024.
According to the Football Association, the 27-year-old backed his own team to lose in 13 bets across seven matches.
Following the suspension, EA has now to taken action, removing the Brentford star from FIFA 23, and players are furious.
FIFA 23 fans outraged by Ivan Toney removal
After the removal of Ivan Toney in the latest squad update, players immediately began hitting out at EA, slamming them as “hypocrites” and “pathetic” for removing the Brentford striker.
FIFA content creator LukeDutchh was one of many to show their frustrations. “Fifa literally promote gambling to children,” he said in a tweet. “This whole thing is so f**king pathetic.”
He added: “Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling. Biggest hypocrites of all time.”
“They run the biggest gaming casino in history,” one fan responded. “Ultimate team is literally gambling,” said another.
However, as several users mentioned, the decision likely falls down to the Football Association, rather than EA themselves — who likely have to follow suit with the game being so closely tied.
“Since the game is tied to Fifa, they probably have to respect all decisions made by Fifa. Really don’t think this is a decision made just by EA,” they wrote.
Toney isn’t the only player to be removed from the game through FIFA 23’s life cycle, with players such as Diego Maradona and recently passed Christian Atsu being removed.
It’s certainly been an interesting season, as FIFA 23’s life cycle is almost at an end before the franchise is rebranded to EA SPORTS FC.
