Hayley Willis: 'Why isn't there an uproar about FIFA messing up women's faces?'

Imagine if EA Sports released a version of its FIFA video game and David Beckham’s avatar was completely bald and wearing a beautiful shade of pink lipstick. There would be uproar, and rightly so. Of course, this didn’t happen, they got every feature down to his chiselled jawline, ripped torso and tattoos completely spot on.

The same cannot be said for our female stars. 

FIFA 23’s inclusion of the National Women’s Soccer League was touted as a 'monumental milestone' for women’s football, instead the inclusion of the female athletes in the popular video game was a monumental disaster.

Instead of further showcasing the talent of the top tier athletes through the unique gaming experience, they became a laughingstock. Players were bald, others had moustaches, stats were completely wrong, and in one instance a player of Asian heritage was whiter than my derriere in winter. It was a complete joke.

It looked, and I imagine it felt, like EA Sports put in absolutely zero effort. How did they get it so wrong? It’s not like they’re short of cash, they’re estimated net worth is $32 billion!

Sydney Leroux summed it up best with her reaction –

"I know you expect women to just be thankful and grateful that you’ve given us a little sliver of publicity but please stop wasting our time. Some of us are bald."

You are going to scare my children. pic.twitter.com/LkxwQg37EF

— Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) March 22, 2023

You could sense the overwhelming frustration from the several athletes who spoke out, and they have every right to feel disgruntled by their hideous portrayal. Underneath the lighthearted banter, these athletes were offended.

This first version released of FIFA 23 reportedly sold 10 million copies in the first week. Imagine the impact for the women’s game this release could have had, if EA Sports got it right. Some say the inclusion is a step in the right direction, but if anything, this sub-standard execution just highlights that female athletes are still not being taken seriously.

It's a common feeling amongst female athletes across all codes, around the world. There is still this expectation that female athletes should feel grateful for a seat at the table. Fortunately, speaking out and highlighting this misrepresentation by EA Sports, is slowly eliminating that feeling as females demand the respect they deserve.

Apparently, EA Sports had an artist whose only job was to track and model David Beckham’s changing hairstyles. If only Janine Beckie, Caprice Dydasco and Sydney Leroux were so lucky!

Found my long lost twin! Fraternal obviously. pic.twitter.com/TZbLDJsgy8

— Janine Beckie (@janinebeckie) March 23, 2023

I’m grateful EA Sports is finally including the NWSL but this does not represent me. @EASPORTSFIFA pic.twitter.com/SgrFkoCYy1

— Caprice Dydasco (@CapriceDydasco) March 22, 2023

EA addressed the issue, and in a roundabout way apologised, by releasing a short statement on its Twitter account:

"We’re aware of several issues with the depiction of certain players introduced in our latest update to FIFA 23. We take representation very seriously, celebrating athlete diversity is vitally important, and we certainly didn’t mean any offense. Authentically representing athletes in game is an intensive and continual process, and we’ve made adjustments in the last 24 hours to address some of the issues that surfaced. We will progressively introduce updated representations of athletes in future patches."

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Feature Image: Twitter @CapriceDydasco.