Poor payout so Iceland ditch Fifa 17

A Polish fan passes by a picture of the Icelandic football team in Reykjavik, on June 30, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

REYKJAVIK • Iceland will not feature in the latest Fifa video game due to a financial row between the Euro 2016 quarter-finalists and American game manufacturers Electronic Arts (EA).

The Icelandic Football Association (KSI) has accused EA of showing them a lack of respect in their monetary offer to the minnows, who were a revelation in summer.

"We don't accept bad treatment. They offered under 2 million Icelandic kronur (S$23,600). We made them a counter-offer, which they did not accept," KSI president Geir Thorsteinsson told AFP.

The Fifa series of football video games are hugely popular with the latest version - Fifa 17 - due for release on Sept 27 in North America and two days later throughout the rest of the world.

Iceland's decision was criticised by marketing consultant Andres Jonsson, who said the Nordic nation missed out on a golden opportunity after its strong Euro performance this year.

He told Icelandic broadcaster RUV he believed Iceland may ultimately have a change of heart.

"I think hundreds of millions play this game. Iceland is a cult team so it would get even more attention. It is often the smaller teams with interesting players that get popular in this game," Jonsson said.

Iceland provided one of the biggest shocks in European Championship history in France in June when they beat England 2-1 to reach the tournament quarter-finals, before going down 2-5 to the hosts.

The team's distinctive clapping celebration with their fans earned cult status during the tournament and was even adopted by France on their journey to the final, which they lost.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 22, 2016, with the headline Poor payout so Iceland ditch Fifa 17. Subscribe