Even in my most reasonable moments, I have little time for EA’s portfolio. Today, however, the gaming publisher proved that it still has a foot in the real world as they remove Emiliano Sala from Fifa 19.
For those of you of a more bat and ball persuasion, Emiliano Sala was an Argentinian footballer who’s shocking death made headlines across the world. After recently signing transfer deal worth 15 million pounds to move away from French club Football Club de Nantes, commonly known as FC Nantes, he was killed in a plane crash over the English Channel. To add to the tragedy, the 28-year-old was on his way to new club Cardiff City to begin a new chapter in his career. You can find coverage of this over on the BBC Sports website.
While the forward signed for Cardiff City just before the crash, this move was not reflected in Fifa 19’s roster. As the investigation of this event still proceeds off the coast of the UK, and after Sala’s body has been recovered, EA has taken the step of removing Sala from FC Nantes in their premier sports title. In addition to removing him from play, EA has pulled all Sala cards from Fifa Ultimate Team packs and fixed the price of all Sala related items in Fifa 19 to avoid inflation.
If you log into Fifa 19 now, a message from EA detailing the move and signing off with the following statement shown to players
“We again send our sincerest sympathies to his family, Cardiff City, FC Nantes, and his fans all around the world.
The FIFA Team.”
