EA Sports removes Russian national team and clubs from FIFA 22, NHL 22

On Monday, UEFA and FIFA officially suspended Russian national teams and clubs from official competitions due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, and ESPN's Greg Wyshynski later noted that the International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia and Belarus from participation in "every age category and in all IIHF competitions until further notice." 

Art is now imitating life in early March. 

Per Luke Bosher of The Athletic, EA Sports announced Wednesday that Russia’s national team and domestic league have been removed from the popular "FIFA 22" title.

"EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine," the company said in a statement. "In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA mobile and FIFA online. We’re also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games.

"We will keep our communities up to date on any actions taken, and thank players for their patience as we work through these updates."

Additionally, The Athletic also shared that EA Sports is removing Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from the "NHL 22" video game "within the coming weeks." 

Belarus has been used as a launch point for Russian military personnel and equipment entering Ukraine. 

The news comes roughly 24 hours after MassMutual pulled a well-known television commercial featuring Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, and after equipment company CCM Hockey announced it would stop using Ovechkin and other Russian-born NHL stars in global marketing initiatives "at this point." 

Ovechkin has long been an outspoken supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.