EA Will Add Usain Bolt To FIFA 19 If He Can Secure A Professional Contract

Awesome. I had no idea he was playing football let alone for a local team.

This space, I shall watch.

I guess I am just really not a sports fan. I don't get why this is a big deal. I mean, there are thousands of professional footballers around the world right?

I think they have a spot open on the cover for him, no?

I actually tried looking for him as soon as I bought FIFA. I hear he's struggling with his fitness, playing football and sprinting are two different beasts so still huge question marks whether he'll get a contract or not. Though, it is a great story all the same! Good luck to him 👍

@Heavyarms55 it's a big deal because he could potentially win a professional contract at 32. He's not had a carrer in football. And he's a popular athlete to boot. It's a good story dude

He was offered a full time contract with Valetta, a Maltese side but he turned it down.Going from what I read today I'm not sure he'll be signing for the Mariners. Apparently they would need to ask the FA of Australia to supplement his wages as they can't afford them.

Considering my family's from Jamaica (and they love to keep up with Bolt's sports career), I'm surprised this is the first I'm hearing about his delve into soccer/football.

Reading the headline, I though EA was pulling some guest character shenanigans. :V

@Heavyarms55 It's a big deal as he is one of the most famous people on the planet and the fastest sprinter and arguably the greatest athlete of all time. 9 gold medals, 11 World Championships, only man to win 100m and 200m at 3 consecutive Olympics, World record holder of both distances with 2 set at the same Olympics and then both broken by him a year later. On top of all those outstanding achievements he's a huge character, a showman and an all round good bloke. Now here he is, trying to fulfill his life long dream of becoming a professional footballer at the ripe age of 32. It's an incredible story,especially if achieves it and becomes relatively successful!

@Silkyinsect_UK It's different because he's 32? I take it that's really old for an athlete? Good for him I guess and to each their own interests.

I don't have to understand it.

@OorWullie Oh, one of the most famous people on the planet. Among sports fans I guess? Never heard of him. Sounds like he's pretty awesome though. Cool. If he did all that, I don't see why he couldn't also be a footballer too.

@adh56 Unfortunately that spot has been reserved by Kenny Miller and his aerodynamic head.

Ok politics I can deal with, but sports news on Nintendo Life... No, thanks!!

@Heavyarms55 yes to win a professional footballing contract at 32, which is quite old for sportsman, when he's never had a career in football is impressive and quite unique. It's like going from playing cricket to being a boxer... a huge career change and very demanding on the body, especially at 32. But as you say you don't follow sport so this means nothing to you...

@RazumikhinPG News about a game that's available on a Nintendo console, on Nintendo Life. Loving the salty tears of all the sports haters.

@FredBiletnikoff It's barely about the game. It's more about how Bolt is now a football player. Did you bother reading the actual article? Give it a try.

Sports and Politics within 24 hours?
This website makes some interesting choices...

Does this mean they might actually update the switch version? Doubt it.

@Heavyarms55 More than just sports fans, he's a global celebrity.Very surprised to read you've never heard of him. He is one of those rare athletes/sports people that transcend their sport and become household names. Such as Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Pele. Usain Bolt sits firmly in the elite club. An athlete that will be talked about 50 years, 100 years from now. Who knows, his records may even still stand at that point.

As for why you don't see why he can't make it as a footballer. It's a completely different sport. He'll be playing with professionals who have been doing intensive training since they were kids. He's 32 year old, that's an age where the vast majority of footballers realise their best days are behind them. It's the way of the human body, at 32 it isn't what it once was,your body can't do what your mind wants it to do and it's only going to get worse from there. Whether you're Ronaldo or a guy on a construction site, you have to accept you aren't what you once were haha

@RazumikhinPG I did read it. It says if he signs a deal he will be added to the GAME. What part of that is difficult to understand?

@FredBiletnikoff I'll make this easy for you.

"You may or may not have heard the 32-year old Jamaican Olympic champion Usain Bolt is currently trialling with the Australian club side Central Coast Mariners, who play in the nation’s top flight competition known as the A-League."

Nothing about the game or Nintendo or video games in general.

"After training up at multiple clubs around the world - including German powerhouse Dortmund - Bolt is now vying to become a professional footballer."

Nothing about the game or Nintendo or video games in general.

"If he does manage to put pen to paper at the Mariners, he will be added to FIFA 19 in either the winter update or next major update, according to an EA source in contact with Fox Sports Asia."

Oh cool, the game is mentioned. Nintendo or Switch, not so much.

"If he doesn’t make the cut, he could still alternatively be listed as a free agent in the game. Either way, he would reportedly be the fastest player if he is added – so he could be worth picking up for your squad."

Fair enough, this is about the game.

"Bolt still appears to be finding his feet at his new home. Recently he put away two goals against a second-tier Australian side. This was his maiden Mariners' goal:"

Nothing about the game or Nintendo or video games in general.

Let me know if you have more questions.

@NewAdvent The professional contract he was offered came from a Maltese side. I would assume the standard there is even worse than in Australia. Can't really blame him for turning them down. I think that club just wants the huge attention and publicity having him in their team would bring and would play him regardless of if he's good enough. They've already said the contract offer will always be on the table so it seems they are just wanting the name rather the player. He seems to be very serious about this and wants to he taken seriously not just signed because of who he is.

@RazumikhinPG The game is available on the Switch. This is telling people about a new player they may be able to use in the game. Some people may have been wondering why he could be added so that's why there is background information given about his current football situation. I get it you don't like football, don't read it. To suggest FIFA fans who own a Switch wouldn't be interested in this is just ridiculous.

@OorWullie I guess that's a thing, but we aren't talking about him jumping into it and being the best. Just making the cut. Sure it's a different sport entirely but I doubt someone with the credentials this guy has and people saying this was a personal dream of his, wouldn't be able to make the cut. Even at 32.

Then again, what the heck do I know about sports? Everything I do know is purely 2nd hand knowledge all but forced on my by the fact that most of society puts sports on a pedestal of unparalleled importance. Personally I think 1 good author is worth a thousand good athletes. I don't hate it or anything, if you drag me to a game, I'll join in the festivities, cheer for whichever team you like, and enjoy the day. But at the end of the day to me sports will always be, and never be anything but "just sports".

As for household names... lol, the vast majority of celebrities I don't know. A person has to be really huge AND either someone a friend of mine really likes, or have some kind of major role in something I really like. And even then I couldn't tell you the names of most actors in my favorite movies or basically any of the band member names for any of my favorite groups. And yet, I could summarize entire novel series for you in great detail.

He will be the most signed player in manager mode if he makes it in. The pace will be too much to ignore. Wages though.... yelp

@RazumikhinPG What's the problem? It's like adding a new fighter to Smash Bros. Not more not less. People who enjoy FIFA will be pleased.
And it's also nice to have a little side story about the main news. If you are not interested, don't read it. Easy!

@FredBiletnikoff This has nothing to do with me liking or disliking football. Making assumptions like that is a bit rude.
It has solely to do with this news not having place in NL. Please understand.

@mazzel Isn't that kinda the same as saying "if you're not interested, don't come to NL" tho?

@MarinaKat Yeah but you see stories about RPGs actually fit with the actual topics talked about on NL.
Olympic runners becoming footballers does actually not fit with the actual topics.
Hope this is not too difficult to understand.

@Heavyarms55 "Oh, one of the most famous people on the planet. Among sports fans I guess? Never heard of him."

No the original statement is correct. He's one of the better known people in the world regardless of interest in the field of athletics or sports in general. Somehow you may have missed hearing about him but that doesn't mean he hasn't been famous for a very long time.

@MarinaKat The article very clearly confirms his inclusion is not actually official. So the purpose of the article can be summed up as "Hey you know this guy who used to do this? He may supposedly do another thing. And if he does he may potentially be added to a game, although we don't actually know if he will come to Switch or not but well just look at this video of him playing football bye".

I actually opened the article because I was curious as to how the Switch version of FIFA 19 is doing and thought there might be some info on that. But the article doesn't even include pictures of the game, let alone actual info about the game.
And this comes a few hours after a political article on NL.

I gave up on being vocal about wanting less Fortnite posts, but in this case I think I'm allowed to express my opinion about NL's content without having a bunch of kids calling me a "football hater".

@RazumikhinPG Dude this article is perfectly fine...

What a clash of worlds seeing the jersey of a sports team I support as the cover image of a news article on a Nintendo site.

Bolt is great media exposure for the Mariners who are the smallest team/region in the A-League and sadly have been struggling for a few seasons now. Unfortunately from what I’ve seen he’s simply not good enough to earn a professional contract, even at A-League level. Fitness is one thing, but his touch is quite poor and so is his reading of the game which professionals learn over years of playing. That said, the first goal he scored was a fine finish, if he can prove himself worthy of a contract, well done to him, I just don’t see it.

I don’t think pace would make up for the rest of his stats if EA add him to FIFA, but I can see people adding him to their team for the novelty factor.

@OorWullie I think that Central Coast Mariners requesting that the A-League contribute to his wages could actually be a good sign - the League has a 'marquee player' scheme which allows teams to sign star names on much higher wages if its deemed that the signing would sufficiently raise the profile of the competition (which should benefit all)

If the request has been made, it's a sign that the club would be interested in adding him as a 'marquee' player - the League now just has to decide whether they believe that the added expense would be worth the outlay.

In the past, the A-League has contributed substantially to the wages of other big name stars - I remember Alessandro Del Piero, for example, joining Sydney FC as a 'marquee' signing, with all of their matches (both home and away) seeing bumper attendances as a result (with an increase in interest, viewing figures and merchandise sales too, I'd imagine) ..unlike Del Piero, of course, Bolt has no footballing pedigree to speak of - so the League may be a little wary that his signing could end up being a rather costly 'flash in the pan' gimmick - but Bolt's arrival has certainly generated a lot of interest (and CCM's attendances and gate receipts have been through the roof) so he's got a lot going for him in that regard (..got my fingers crossed for him!)

Personally, I think he could make it to a decent level. Pace is a huge weapon - and he's certainly got bags of that! ..and I look at players like Wolves' £16m record signing Adama Traore - who's truly rapid, but perhaps a little lacking in technique - and see no reason why Bolt couldn't offer something similar for a team (at least)

I so hope that he gets a shot somewhere - absolute legend!

@Heavyarms55 I agree with you and neither know nor care about virtually anything in sports....like....at all....but.....even I know of Bolt Normal sports stuff I don't follow, but multi-time multi-discipline record setting Olympic gold medalists tend to stand out....there aren't a whole lot of those in history IIRC he still holds the record for "fastest man on Earth" so he's a big deal from a history standpoint.

Even as a non-sports fan it's kind of funny given that historic stature as a runner if he joins some B-tier pro sports team. Atheletic and skilled as pro team sports players have to be, sticking a historic Olympian on the team would be like sending Miyamoto to work at Renegade Kid. Sure he's above normal age and past his prime, but he's still waaaaay above their grade.

Edit: The rest I agree with you though. Sports is just sports and I don't understand the importance the world puts on them at all. If we ran around talking about how many Pokemon we collected we'd be side-eyed and considered overgrown children. But they can run around talking about how many points someone else scored, and they're the heart of social awareness. It's a weird schism. Pokemon, Skyrim, and DOOM are games. Soccer/Football, Baseball, Basketball are games. Both keep points, scores, and stats. If you talk about your favorite quarterback's stat's, the franchise teams history, and the batting averages in public, you're a solid participant of society. If you talk about the stat page of your level 31 high elf, your Pokemon collection, or that really hard boss battle you made it through by abusing the ledge to the left, you're either a child, or a nutjob. "Your games bad, my games good" Yet we play our own games, and most others are talking about games they watched other people play. It makes zero sense at all.

Specifically where the most popular, team sports, come into play. Your city wins, my city wins, nothing about that matters, it's just one city gets to boast to another city that 20 people from your city played a game with 20 people from my city and lost, so nyah nyah we win!

But I make the exception for cases like Bolt and other individual sports type events. It's not about your city beats my city. It's just about one person setting out to "become the best that ever was" at one thing. Or at least fail trying. That's always impressive and makes a bit of history. No (recorded) human has ever run faster than this man. And he's proven over 8+ years that it wasn't a fluke or luck or a good weather day....he can do it again and again. That's pretty much the only sports I have much interest in. The individual record sort. Also Paralympics are interesting, if depressing, watching people with no legs and half an arm do things I could never have done with two of each.

@RazumikhinPG I am having a hard time understanding why you would click on an article that doesn't interest you, then complain about it. I am sure you don't walk down the street entering every store you see and complain that they are not selling the merchandise only you like correct?

@Twonips How is that even comparable? If you want to use that example, Nintendo Life is one store, not the whole street.
Besides, I already explained why I clicked on the article. Look it up.

@RazumikhinPG I could explain to you how it is comparable but I don't have the time or the crayons. I could also tell you that you're right in your thinking, but then we would both be wrong.

@Twonips You can even use Mario Paint for all I care: it's not comparable. Please only tag me in your replies if you have anything interesting to say, thanks.

I didn't know he was doing soccer now. Glad he is not lounging around being lazy. (Like me)