By the time his suspension ends, everyone should be playing EA Sports FC (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)



With Ivan Toney suspended from playing football, EA has kicked him out of FIFA 23 too, prompting a backlash from some players.



Earlier this month, Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney was found to have made multiple bets against his own club, earning himself a hefty fine and a suspension from ‘all football and football-related activity’ for the next eight months.



Following the news, EA has opted to suspend him from FIFA 23 as well, with players quickly learning of his removal following a recent update to the game.



This has prompted accusations of hypocrisy from fans who argue that FIFA’s own Ultimate Team mode is guilty of promoting gambling .



As a reminder, in Ultimate Team you can earn players through the game’s equivalent of loot boxes, which can be purchased with real money. Since you won’t know what the contents are until you buy them, many believe this makes the loot boxes tantamount to gambling.



Countries like the Netherlands and Belgium certainly believe so, having banned loot boxes for violating their gambling laws, and the topic remains an ongoing debate here in the UK.



Ergo, some people think it’s a bit rich for EA to remove Toney because of his gambling offences. One Twitter user, Lukedutchh , calls it ‘f***ing pathetic,’ adding ‘Not to mention that they still, to this day, hold the belief that loot boxes aren’t gambling. Biggest hypocrites of all time.’



Several others agree, lambasting EA for the double standards though there has been some pushback. Not just from those who disagree with the ‘loot boxes are gambling’ argument but those who think EA isn’t taking some sort of moral high ground and is just keeping things consistent.



The FIFA games are football simulators so, if a player has been suspended in real life, it makes sense for EA to match that in-game. It’s also been pointed out that EA may not have had a hand in decision and was requested to do so by the FIFA organisation itself.



Plus, Toney hasn’t been suspended just for gambling. The problem was that he was placing bets on his own team, including for matches he was taking part in, as well as bets on his team to lose.





EA Sports removed Ivan Toney from FIFA 23 in the latest squad update due to gambling, son your company is running due to gambling(FUT and other lootboxes). — Jay Anand (@notjayanand) May 27, 2023





Bunch of hypocrites