EA Sports was originally heralded for announcing that FIFA 16 will be the first game in the series to include women's national teams.
Now, the video-game developer has been forced to remove 13 women's players from the highly-anticipated game, which is slated for a September 22 release. According to NCAA rules, including the 13 players, who are either currently attending or likely to attend NCAA-regulated schools, would be risking their eligibility for collegiate athletics.
"Of the hundreds of players on these rosters, 13 are currently attending or likely to attend NCAA-sanctioned schools in the US," EA Sports said in a statement on its website. "The NCAA recently informed EA Sports that these 13 student-athletes would be risking their eligibility for collegiate athletics by being included in FIFA 16.
"We do not agree with this position," the statement continued. "All rights were secured following standard protocol with national governing bodies and federations, and none of these NCAA student-athletes or potential student athletes were to be individually compensated by EA Sports for their inclusion in the game. We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility."
The 13 players removed are: Kadeisha Buchanan, Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence, Janine Beckie, Rebecca Quinn and Sura Yekka, all from Canada, Spain's Celia Jiménez, and Tanya Samarzich, Greta Espinoza, Christina Murillo, Amanda Perez, Emily Alvarado and Maria Sanchez from Mexico.
EA has had its clashes with the NCAA before, inlcuding last year's landmark $40 million settlement with the video game developer paying former athletes for each appearance in their titles.
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