After the U.S. women’s national team won the FIFA World Cup on Sunday, fans started a petition to put the women on the cover of Electronic Arts upcoming FIFA 16 soccer video game.
EA announced in May that it would put 12 worldwide women’s teams into FIFA 16, which debuts on Sept. 22. That was the first time in the 22-year history of the franchise that it had decided to add women’s teams.
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“This year is already a groundbreaking year by it being the first year to include women’s teams in the game,” George said. “We are calling on EA Sports to take it a step farther and put the World Cup Champion United States Women’s National Team on the cover.”
He said it would be an important message to send to young women across the world, and “it will have such a positive impact on both soccer playing and non soccer playing girls.” In the wake of last year’s GamerGate controversy, a gamer rage movement that’s centered around the role of women in gaming, the petition could very well draw a lot of strong opinions on both sides. EA declined to comment, and we’re sure they’ll be watching the results closely.