EA confirmed that there will be no Russian teams in FIFA 23. They were already removed from the game in FIFA 22. EA wants to stand in solidarity with Ukraine during the times of the Russian invasion.
In FIFA 22 all Russian teams as well as the Russian national team were removed from the game. This is now also the case in FIFA 23.
EA announced this to Eurogamer and stated the reason for the decision. They are removing the Russian teams as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The publisher stated: All Russian teams and the national team will not be included from the very beginning in FIFA 23.
– Ukraine Live Blog (via Zeit)
– Focus: War against Ukraine (via ard)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via auswaertiges-amt)
“EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people”
This is how EA justifies the decision: In the statement from EA Sports, it says: “EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and calls, like many voices in the world of football, for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine.”
Furthermore, the justification states: “In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports will not include the Russian national team or Russian clubs in FIFA 23” (via eurogamer.net).
Why is this not surprising? There was a detailed statement on Twitter regarding FIFA 22 on March 2, 2022. The content is very similar to the statements made by EA to Eurogamer regarding FIFA 23 (via twitter.com).
Thus, EA continues to stand by the decision to make a statement for Ukraine and carries this on in the latest installment of the football game.
FIFA 23 will be the last real FIFA game from EA. The game will subsequently continue under the name “EA Sports FC”. Whether Russian teams will be available in the respective spin-offs is still open. More about FIFA 23 can be found here:
When is FIFA 23 coming? Everything about the release – date, trailer, cover
