EA Sports’ FIFA 22 and NHL 22 remove Russian teams from video games

Russian and Belarusian national clubs will be removed from Electronic Arts’ FIFA 22 and NHL 22The global outrage against the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2014 filters into world sports, and their video games.

FIFA, the Union of European Football Associations, and the International Ice Hockey Federation all leveled sanctions on Russia earlier in the week, starting with UEFA’s removal of the Champions League final from St. Petersburg. FIFA under pressure from the Polish soccer association suspended Russia’s eligibility for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The International Olympic Committee closed the 2022 Olympic Winter Games just two weeks ago and called for all international sports bodies to prohibit Russian athletes from participating in global competition.

The IIHF followed suit by expelling Russia and Belarus from six tournaments — women’s, men’s, under-18, juniors, and other world championships — to be held between March and September.

EA Sports cited these moves — all but the IOC are licensing partners — in Wednesday’s decisions to remove Russian and Belarusian teams from its games. Belarus, which borders Ukraine’s north, is a Kremlin ally and has been a staging area for the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine.

NHL 22, at the end of January, received an update bringing the IIHF-recognized national teams in three divisions — women’s, men’s, and juniors — to the game’s standard, Ultimate Team, NHL Threes, and World of Chel modes. This latest announcement means those modes will lose those two sides “within the coming weeks.”

The Russian sides are not affected by the expulsions. FIFA NHL 22 Or the professional football teams CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow. Spartak Moscow. Zenit Saint Petersburg. Russian stars, including the Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin (who is a Russian national), will still be playing alongside their non-Russian counterparts.

But these removals probably won’t be the end of the matter for EA Sports. Codemasters was acquired by the publisher last year. F1 2022 Formula 1 cancelled the September Sochi Autodrom Russian Grand Prix to be launched this summer. This course has been available in the game’s video since 2014.

The U.S.-based Haas F1 Team, which was founded in 2010, is losing its principal driver, and sponsor, Uralkali fertilizer producer, due to be sold by Dmitry Mazepin, a Russian oligarch. His son, Nikita, drove for Haas in the 2022 World Driver’s Championship, coming in last with zero points and six non-finishes. Even if he continues to race with Haas, the United Kingdom’s national motorsport authority on Tuesday said Mazepin is banned from the 2022 British Grand Prix.

Mazepin competed under a neutral banner (in real life as well as in video games) due to the two-year ban the World Anti-Doping Agency handed all Russian competitors. If he and Uralkali are formally out, they’ll need to be stripped from the upcoming game, too.

Electronic Arts responded to a Polygon question seeking more comment. They sent a Codemasters message regarding the matter. F1 2022. “We are in discussions with the F1 organization about the race schedule for next year,” it said, “and we will align with their plans for the 2022 season.”