Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently called out FIFA, FIFPro and EA Sports for ‘using his name or face’ to make profits on Twitter. The AC Milan talisman went one step further and said, “Somebody is making profit on my name and face without any agreement all these years. Time to investigate.”
According to the latest developments on the issue, about 300 more players have joined Ibrahimovic. They believe that EA has bought rights from FIFA that the organisation cannot sell.
After all, the image rights of a player belong to the player himself, not to the club or to the league they play in.
The most notable of the players who have taken the issue to EA’s usage of their likeness is Gareth Bale, alongside Ibrahimovic.
Zlatan’s agent, Mino Raiola has now taken the reigns over his agent’s attack and has mentioned that there are over 300 players who have joined ‘the battle’.
The famous agent spoke to the Telegraph regarding the issue, and here is what he had to say:
‘It won’t just be Zlatan or Gareth Bale. We have around 300 requests from players. We will go until the end, if necessary, against Fifa and FifPro and everybody who sells rights they don’t have.’
‘This is one of the biggest disgraces involving Fifa who want to weaken the players to become slaves. But I will not allow that. Zlatan is not a marionette; Zlatan is not someone you can tell to do something he doesn’t want to do.
‘The nice thing about this is that it is being brought by players. He is committed to the cause.’
‘The question is very simple: Fifa and Fifpro are profiting from the rights that EA Sports happily buy from them but they buy rights that they don’t have.’
‘The individual image rights of the player are not with Fifa, FifPro or AC Milan. They belong to the player himself.
‘If EA Sports wants to continue the business like they do we will bring them to court but not only that we will bring to court everyone who is selling the rights that they don’t have. So if that is Fifpro, that’s Fifpro. If that is Fifa, that’s Fifa.’
