FIFA 23
FIFA 23

A female footballer has requested that EA Sports “deflate her boobs” in FIFA 23 after being dissatisfied with her depiction in the game. Sydney Leroux, an Angel City FC forward, has complained about her FIFA 23 avatar, alleging that she is entirely unrecognisable in the popular football game.

FIFA 23, the world’s most popular football game, has created lifelike in-game avatars using high-definition scans of footballers. Footballers had to undergo time-consuming full-body scanning procedures in order for their FIFA avatars to appear natural.

FIFA 23
Angel City FC and USWNT star Sydney Leroux hit out at EA Sports FIFA 23 for their horrific graphics. Credits: Twitter

Leroux slams FIFA 23 for making her ‘chesty’ in the game

Sydney Leroux, who was born in Canada, has been capped 77 times for the USWNT, winning the World Cup and Olympic Gold in 2016. She has spent her whole career in North America, beginning with the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2005. However, she has recently made headlines for her outrage over her appearance on FIFA.

Women have been involved in the game since 2016, with Chelsea star Sam Karr becoming the first female cover star in FIFA 23, the franchise’s final incarnation in its present form. In addition, this year’s game includes the Women’s Super League, French Division 1 Feminine, Women’s Champions League, and National Women’s Soccer League.

Leroux is an 81-rated striker who now plays for Angel City FC and has formerly played for the Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders, and Orlando Pride. However, the 32-year-old has taken issue with her portrayal of the popular football game, specifically her “chesty” animated character.

Leroux complained about Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock’s appearance throughout the game, then made a number of observations about her. She took it to Twitter to express her disappointment, writing:

“They had the headband, the braid, the neck tattoo, the overly plucked brows and someone even made me CHESTYYYY!!!! Deflate my boobs a bit and put a different jersey on. I’ll keep the brows at this point.”

Leroux kept tweeting and noticed the humour after a video of her celebration was shared, with the forward adding:

“Please tell me I did not do an entire body scan for that…”

Leroux’s Twitter profile photo was also altered to a screenshot of her virtual self in the game, with the caption:

“You are going to scare my children.”

After commenting on how many other female footballers bear little similarity to her, the former Boston Breakers player encouraged EA to do better. She tweeted:

“I know you expect women to just be thankful and grateful that you’ve given us a little sliver of publicity but please stop wasting our time. Some of us are bald.”

EA and FIFA have severed their 30-year partnership, and the game will now be called as ‘EA Sports FC’ beginning with the next version. The Premier League’s exclusive rights and collaborations with sponsors such as Nike will be maintained. However, Leroux is not the first player to criticise the game’s 3D models after the addition of additional leagues.

Both Houston Dash defender Caprice Dydasco and Liverpool attacker Katie Stengel were disappointed with their portrayals. This will be the final FIFA game in its current incarnation, following the split of game producers EA Sports from the governing organisation.