EA Sports is following the real-life lead of the IIHF and will be removing the Russian and Belarusian national teams from NHL 22 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
EA Sports announced the move on Wednesday in a release.
“Following the IIHF’s suspension of all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions, we will be removing these teams from NHL 22 within the coming weeks,” EA Sports wrote. “We stand with the people of Ukraine and join the voices around the world calling for peace.”
A statement from EA SPORTS NHL: pic.twitter.com/2uX4h55ok4
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) March 2, 2022
EA Sports also did the same in its FIFA series game.
A statement from EA SPORTS FIFA: pic.twitter.com/v3pZvpblgS
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) March 2, 2022
The move was not made in NHL 22’s latest patch which was released on March 2.
Russian stars like Alex Ovechkin, who was the cover athlete for NHL21, and Evgeni Malkin will still remain playable on their NHL teams.
EA’s move comes as Alex Ovechkin has seen several of his sponsors distance themselves from him including CCM and MassMutual.
Russia’s assault of Ukraine is in its eighth day.
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