EA Sports recently held their first-ever Women’s Football Summit event, where the developers of FIFA 23 announced new partnerships and initiatives that they hope will grow women’s football both on and off the pitch. A huge step was recently taken with Chelsea forward Sam Kerr gracing the cover of FIFA 23, becoming the first woman to ever star on a FIFA cover, but there’s still a long way to go.
Alongside Kerr, there were five other players speaking at the event: Chelsea’s Lauren James, Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann, and England legends Karon Carney, Fara Williams, and Kelly Smith. All of these women have proved themselves on the pitch, and have plenty of support to offer the campaign to make women’s football as big and important as the men’s game.
Talking to Kerr on the red carpet, she recounted her disbelief when she heard about her status as a cover star. “I was like, ‘No way, this isn’t gonna happen.’ I just thought this one could never be,” she said, and she was just impressed with her in-game rating, “Well, I have the highest rating – everyone that has played has said that I’m a little bit of a cheat code!”
Lauren James told us how important it is that the women’s game is in such a prominent position in the game, “It just shows how far the women’s game has come. Even when I was growing up – I’m still young now – I could only play with men. Now the young girls are able to play with us and I think it’s an inspiration to them.”
Alisha Lehmann spoke about what it meant to her, “Everyone dreams of it,” she said. “Since I was a child playing football, you want to be on FIFA, it’s the biggest thing! I played as a kid with my brother, with my cousin, but I didn’t have much time as I played outside with the ball. But now they’ve put the women’s clubs on, it’s amazing.” She also mentioned that she’s played with her partner, Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, “I reckon I’m better than him!” she commented.
FIFA has seen huge developments this year which have improved women’s representation in the game. Not only does it feature leagues like Barclay’s Women’s Super League and Ligue D1 Feminine, but HyperMotion2 technology has allowed women’s teams to be based on realistic animation and movement for women, rather than using altered versions of the men’s animations.
As part of the panel, it was announced by EA Sports that it has partnered with the UEFA Women’s Champions League, which will feature in-game for the first time. It will include just the knockout stages of the tournament, including teams like Manchester City, Juventus, Real Madrid, Paris Sain-Germain, and Chelsea.
“We are delighted to see the UEFA Women’s Champions League being integrated into EA SPORTS FIFA 23,” said Nadine Kessler, Chief of Women’s Football for UEFA. “It feels like a natural fit for the world’s best women’s club competition to be part of the world’s leading football simulation game. This is another major step in the women’s game and an ideal additional platform for the female athletes contributing to its success.”
This update will be coming to FIFA 23 in early 2023, with the promise of Women’s World Cup content coming in the summer. These are all very promising developments that will hopefully lead to an even bigger role for women’s football in EA Sports’ next soccer game.
Written by GLHF.
