EA has had to remove Diego Maradona from FIFA 22 due to an ongoing contract dispute over the deceased player’s likeness. Maradona will no longer be available to use in the World XI team and won’t be available in packs in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team. EA has also frozen the market price of the player in order to stop his price from increasing due to lack of supply. Check out EA’s full statement on the matter below.
Due to a third party legal dispute, we must suspend Diego Maradona from appearing in FIFA Ultimate Team Packs, Ultimate Draft, and the Soccer Aid World XI Team. As such, Diego Maradona ICON items will no longer be made availale in Packs, SBCs and FUT Draft, and their price range has been fixed until further notice.
We share our fans’ disappointment and hope to bring one of football’s greatest icons back in the game at some point in the future.
EA
The contract dispute in question goes back to the end of last year. In November 2021 it was decided by an Argentinian court that EA had negotiated with the wrong party for Maradona’s license. EA signed an agreement with Maradona’s former manager. The court decided that his manager, Stefano Ceci, had no legal authority to make the deal with EA. Maradona’s former lawyer, Matias Morla, claims that he was granted the rights to the Diego Maradona brand before the player’s death. However, two of Maradona’s daughters stopped him from using the brand in early 2021, a ban that was later overturned.
EA has been caught in the middle of the fight and can now no longer use Maradona’s likeness. It isn’t clear when or if the player will make it back into the game. For those lucky few who already own him in Ultimate Team, fear not. He won’t disappear from clubs and can still be used. At least for the time being anyway.
