EA Sports has removed all Russian football teams from FIFA 22.
The video games giant - which releases a new version of the football game every year reflecting upon the real-life world of soccer - made the decision to omit "all Russian clubs" from various platforms in a bid to "stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people" following Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine last week.
In a tweet, EA wrote: " In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online. EA SPORTS stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine."
The tweet went on to explain that the EA company - also known for games such as 'The Sims' franchise and the 'Battlefield' series - are also actively pursuing "other areas" to change in the company with regards to the Ukraine crisis.
It read: "We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games.
We will keep our communities up to date on any actions taken, and thank players for their patience as we work through these updates.
The news comes soon after Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov begged "all game development companies and esports platforms" to cease business with Russia amid the crisis.
In an open letter, he wrote: "I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything possible to protect Ukraine, Europe and, finally, the entire democratic world. I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belorussian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus. We are sure that such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression."
