Electronic Arts has pulled Benjamin Mendy’s card from FIFA Ultimate Team and FIFA 22 during his ongoing rape and sexual assault trial.
Manchester City defender, Benjamin Mendy, appeared in Chester Crown Court on the 10th of September and faced charges consisting of four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. Accused of attacking three women in his Cheshire home between October 2020 and August 2021, the 27-year-old Premier League player is currently awaiting trial.
Those same charges resulted in Mendy’s suspension from the Manchester City club and subsequently, Electronic Arts has chosen to pull him from FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) and FIFA 22 as well.
EA’s upcoming release for FIFA 22 on October 1st doesn’t mean that Mendy’s card won’t be completely unobtainable. The publisher hosted a 10-hour trial for EA Play subscribers on September 22nd, giving players full access to the game and saving their progress for the official release.
EA spoke to Eurogamer and released a statement that reads:
“As Benjamin Mendy has been removed from the active rosters of both Manchester City and the French National team, in FIFA 22 he has also been removed from respective rosters and suspended from appearing in FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) packs and Ultimate Draft while he is awaiting trial.”
EA pulls Man City's suspended defender Benjamin Mendy from FIFA 22 while he is awaiting trial – but he's still widely available in Ultimate Team's auction house https://t.co/XRtDuStQ4N
— Eurogamer (@eurogamer) September 28, 2021
Because Mendy’s FUT card was available during the EA Play launch for a full 24 hours, the in-game transfer market means that he could still be used in player’s teams. Unless EA fixes the card’s value, like they’ve done in the past following Emiliano Sala’s unfortunate death, it means that some could profit off of the football player’s pending criminal charges.
EA’s decision to remove Mendy isn’t one I think anybody is going to protest at this point. It’s the best decision the company could have made in this situation, and one that they can certainly reverse if the court finds him to be innocent.
Mendy is being held in custody after being refused bail and will appear in court on November 15th. His trial is scheduled for January 24th of 2022.
