Marco Van Basten

EA has withdrawn the former Dutch football star Marco van Basten from FIFA 20 after he said “Sieg Heil” during an interview with German football coach Frank Wormuth of Heracles.

Starring in the game as a 'Legendary Player', van Basten has since apologised for his words, saying that he was trying to “ridicule” the language skills of Wormuth.

“Sieg Heil” is “hail victory” in German, but is most known as being a Nazi salute.

https://twitter.com/TijaniGoulletAD/status/1198336456491765763

EA has removed Marco van Basten ICON items from being available in packs, SBC's and FUT Draft "until further notice" and has issued the following statement on the matter:

We are aware of the recent comments made by Marco van Basten. We have an expectation that our commitment to equality and diversity is upheld across our game.

Fox, which runs the network upon which the footage was broadcast, has suspended van Basten for one week, with his salary being donated to the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation.

During a career which delivered 300 goals, van Basten played for Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well as the Dutch national team – England fans may remember his hat-trick against them at Euro 1988. He has since been employed as manager for teams such as Ajax and Heerenveen, as well as the Netherlands national side.

[source videogamer.com, via twitter.com]