EA Sports Lose The Licence Of Two National Teams In FIFA 21

EA Sports have lost more key licenses ahead of the FIFA 21 launch next month.

The Canadian gaming giant have confirmed all the leagues and teams who will be present in the game and made the announcement that both the Portugal and Italian national teams are not officially licensed.

While we will still be able to play with both countries and their players remain authentic - unlike what happened with the Brazilian and Netherlands national sides in the past - they will have generic crests and kits.

It follows on from AS Roma joining Juventus in becoming unlicensed in the FIFA franchise after signing exclusive deals with rivals Konami and the PES series.

Juventus are now known as 'Piemonte Calcio' on the game, while AS Roma will simply be referred to as 'Roma FC' in FIFA 21 and will also have a custom crest and kit.

"AS Roma will now be Roma FC, playable and equipped with a custom badge and kit throughout Kick-Off, Career Mode, FIFA Ultimate Team and VOLTA FOOTBALL," an official statement from EA read.

"Roma FC will now compete in Stadion Olympik. You can still expect to see the same AS Roma real-world, authentic players and related likenesses in EA Sports FIFA 21 and EA Sports FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.

"Player Chemistry within EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Ultimate Team will be unaffected by these changes. We'd like to thank everyone at AS Roma for the years of collaboration as the team's Official Sports Video Gaming partner."

Incredibly, Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best and most marketable players of all-time, won't be wearing the official kits of either Portugal or Juventus as a result of licenses being lost.

What's more, Serie B (the Italian second tier) is not featured at all in FIFA 21 and it's emerged that Serie A sides Crotone and Spezia are not licensed either - with the only licensed Italian stadium being the iconic San Siro after EA were able to tie AC and Inter Milan to a multi-year partnership.

FIFA 21 is to be released worldwide on 9 October.

Topics: gaming news, Football News, GAMING, Football, AS Roma, Portugal, Juventus, FIFA 21

Josh Lawless

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