What does the European Super League mean for FIFA 22? How it could impact the game

EA Sports has not yet come forward with a statement about the European Super League, but we'll be sure to update you if they do. Until then, read on for our full thoughts on what the European Super League could mean for FIFA 22.

Will the European Super League be in FIFA 22?

The recent announcement of the European Super League confirmed that 12 major teams (and counting) have committed to taking part: AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all signed up, and apparently, more clubs are expected to join that roster of Super League teams.

Assuming those clubs follow through with their announced plans, it seems inevitable that EA Sports will have to react in some way. To be honest, though, it seems very unlikely that the European Super League will appear in FIFA 22.

After all, let's not forget that FIFA 22, FIFA 21 and all other FIFA games are officially licensed products. Although EA Sports makes the games, they do so with permission from the real-life FIFA organisation (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which is the world's governing body for association football).

The real-life FIFA has already voiced its disapproval of the European Super League, saying in an official statement on its website, "In our view, and in accordance with our statutes, any football competition, whether national, regional or global, should always reflect the core principles of solidarity, inclusivity, integrity and equitable financial redistribution. Moreover, the governing bodies of football should employ all lawful, sporting and diplomatic means to ensure this remains the case. Against this background, FIFA can only express its disapproval to a 'closed European breakaway league' outside of the international football structures and not respecting the aforementioned principles."

Since the real-life FIFA organisation does not approve of this new competition, we would not expect to see the European Super League in FIFA 22. But that doesn't mean you won't see its impact in the game.

How would the European Super League impact FIFA 22?

Another one of football's key organisations, UEFA, has said there could be huge ramifications for football if the European Super League goes ahead. UEFA said in its own statement, "the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams".

And so, if the European Super League really does end up happening, the teams and players involved may well be removed from all other official competitions. This will change the face of the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and various other tournaments around Europe, which could have a knock-on effect on FIFA 22.

It does feel sensible to expect those big changes to be reflected in FIFA 22 – if there are teams in real life that get removed from the Premier League, and players who can no longer play for their national teams, we'd expect the same to be true in FIFA 22. We could even see those teams and players removed altogether from FIFA 22.

This would impact the Career Mode game mode in particular, where players are used to selecting their favourite team and guiding them through a league season. If you normally play Career Mode as Spurs, for example, you might not be able to do that anymore if Spurs have been removed from FIFA's recognised leagues.

If these 12 teams and their players do get removed from the game, this could also cause some difficulties in the Ultimate Team game mode, especially for gamers who try to get the same players in their squad every year. Your FIFA experience could look very different next season, if the European Super League does go ahead.

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Will the European Super League be in PES 2022?

So it seems very unlikely that the European Super League will appear in FIFA 22, but what about PES 2022? After all, Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer franchise is not tied to an official FIFA-approved licence in the same way that EA's FIFA series is.

With that in mind, it certainly seems possible that Konami could strike a deal with the European Super League and pick up the rights to display this new tournament in PES 2022.

If Konami did buddy up with the European Super League, it could create an interesting situation where some teams and players only exist in PES, with the FIFA franchise having to omit those same people and clubs in light of the real-life FIFA's decisions.

This might be an expensive proposition for Konami, though, and let's not forget that PES has deployed fake names for teams and players to get around rights issues in the past.

The FIFA games have also resorted to fake team names on rare occasions when they don't have the rights to something (see: Juventus being rebranded as 'Piemonte Calcio' in recent FIFA games). This could provide an interesting loophole: if EA Sports really wants to keep the Super League clubs and players in FIFA 22, perhaps it could be done with placeholder names and knockoff kits. That feels like a long shot, though, as EA would surely need permission from the real-life FIFA to undertake such an obvious workaround.

For now, there's only one thing we know for sure: if the European Super League does go ahead, next season will be very different for football and its video game adaptations.

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