EA Sports recently backed a campaign in the UK to combat homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in football, and this showing of empathy, solidarity and unity has led to MPs in Russia calling for a ban on FIFA 17. The MPs argue that EA’s actions violated the country’s ‘gay propaganda’ laws.
Russia probably wouldn’t like our list of the best sex games much.
According to Russian lawintroduced in 2013, “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations can cause harm to children’s health and development”, via the Guardian.
MPs reacted by sending a letter to the communications oversight and state consumer protection agencies in Russia, saying FIFA 17 “invites users to support the English football premier league’s Rainbow Laces action, a massive campaign in support of LGBT”, as reported by the Izvestia newspaper.
Rainbow Laces was started by UK-based LGBT rights group Stonewall last month, with the aim of raising awareness in the sport. Statistics have shown that 72% of fans had heard homophobic, transphobic and biphobic remarks at games over the past five years, and the goal was to make people think about their fellow football fans, a diverse mix of people with a shared passion.
Premier League matches and social media platforms have featured materials from the campaign, so FIFA 17, a simulation of UK’s football scene and beyond, did the same. As a result, free rainbow-coloured kits were given out for players in FIFA Ultimate Team.
Because of this support, FIFA 17 could well be banned in Russia. Russian MP Irina Rodnina stated that authorities needed to “verify the possibility of distributing this game on the territory of the Russian Federation”.
“Every state has its internal laws and order; they need to be obeyed,” she said in an Izvestia article.