FIFA 23 features IRA crest for Iran

The World Cup is just around the corner and FIFA 23 celebrates with a slew of new content. That content arrived last week, and while FIFA servers initially seemed to be crashing under the pressure, things have largely stabilized to the point where everyone’s favorite football simulator is at least playable again.

However, there is still one major issue in the FIFA 23 World Cup content drop and that is the team badges. Specifically, the Iran team crest, which includes the three letters usually associated with a particular Irish paramilitary group.

For those who don’t know, each country heading to the World Cup next week has its own team logo, made up of the country’s first three letters and the primary colors on each country’s flag. The Iranian flag is very similar to the colors of Ireland, and the first three letters mean “IRA”, also known as the Irish Republican Army.

Being neither Irish nor British, I will not delve into the history of the “troubles” which lasted from the 1960s until 1998 and ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. However, I can say with confidence that no one was happy during this period, with thousands of civilian casualties and severe damage to personal and government property. As such, IRAs remain a somewhat sensitive topic.

So it came as a surprise that EA allowed the IRA to play against England in their first match of the FIFA 23 World Cup. This was noticed by several FIFA fans, who either found it amusing or slightly disturbing, depending on their preferences.

The real World Cup starts on November 20 in Qatar and Ecuador. On November 21, Iran and England will play against each other.

In case you missed it, Marvel and EA have come up with a weird crossover, with famous football legends getting a superhero makeover in FIFA 23’s FIFA Ultimate Team mode.