FIFA 17 accused of violating ‘gay propaganda’ law in Russia

EA Sports has been condemned by Members of Parliament in Russia for their recent public support of the LGBT community, claiming that some of FIFA 17's latest content violates their law on gay propaganda.

According to a report in The Guardian, several MPs have compiled a letter of complaint about the matter and sent it to communications oversight and state consumer protection agencies, stating that the game's recent campaign of support for the LGBT community was propaganda that could cause “harm to children’s health and development."

The letter also claims that the game “invites users to support the English football premier league’s Rainbow Laces action, a massive campaign in support of LGBT," as reported by Russian broadsheet newspaper Izvestia.

This reaction comes after EA Sports supported the Rainbow Laces campaign, set up to combat discrimination against the LGBT community in football, and integrated features that symbolise such support in FIFA 17.

For example, a rainbow-coloured jersey (below) was sent to gamers, free of charge.

Those kits are no longer being distributed, however, as the offer ended on November 28th.

Now, Russian parliamentarians are looking to “verify the possibility of distributing this game on the territory of the Russian Federation," according to United Russia MP Irina Rodnina, who went on to say: "every state has its internal laws and order; they need to be obeyed."

But, unlike an everyday complaint, one MP – Mr. Valery Rashkin – did offer a solution.

He told Izvestia that the game developer should be obliged to “introduce changes to the programming code or the age classification of this information product, and if it refuses, adopt corresponding restrictive measures."

[Guardian]