EA Sports has removed Diego Maradona from FIFA 22 after a dispute.

EA Sports has suspended Diego Maradona from participating in the FIFA 22 Ultimate Team, FUT Draft and Soccer Aid World XI Team packs after an external legal dispute. “We have always promoted Maradona’s likeness and image under an existing licensing agreement with Maradona himself and then with a company that has the right to license Maradona’s image rights in the around the world,” EA Sports said in a statement.

“We share our fans’ disappointment and hope to bring one of football’s greatest icons back into the game at some point in the future,” EA said in a statement. For those who already have Maradona in FIFA Ultimate Team Club, the card will not be removed from the account and all Maradona players on the transfer market will be in the fixed price range until further notice.

Maradona first entered the FIFA Ultimate Team game mode in EA Sports FIFA 18, he was the new FUT icon along with Argentines Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Lev Yashin. As early as August 2021, Argentinian news site Infobae via Eurogamer reported that a judge had granted a trademark rights claim to Maradona by lawyer Matthias Morla’s company Sattvica.

The article states that EA has apparently reached a settlement with former Maradona executive Stefano Ceci, who allegedly failed to prove he had the legal authority to sign such documents, which could thereby result in the complete removal of Maradona from the game.