6 Canadian women's soccer players removed from FIFA 16 video game

Six players from Canada's national women's soccer team will be removed from the newFIFA 16 video game days ahead of its general release, following a dispute with the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The Canadian players who will be removed are Kadeisha Buchanan, Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence, Janine Beckie, Rebecca Quinn and Sura Yekka.

Buchanan, 19, was a breakout star for Team Canada at this year'sFIFAWomen's World Cup, winning the organization's Best Young Player award for herperformanceduring the event.

Six players from Mexico's team and one player from Spain's team will also be removed, bringing the total of axed players to 13.The collegiate players will be replaced in the game by women who have played for the national teams in question.

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The game's publisher, ElectronicArts,said in a statement on Thursday that the U.S.-based National Collegiate Athletic Association "recently informed EA Sports" that these players' inclusion in the game would risk their eligibility for college athletics.

College athletes under the NCAAare compensated with sports scholarships, but cannot profit from their names and likenesses represented in merchandise or other media, including video games. If they do so, they risk losing their scholarships and their ability to play for their college teams.

All six Canadian players who were dropped from FIFA 16 play in the U.S. with NCAA Division 1 soccer teams.

Canada Soccer 'disappointed' by ruling

The game, developed in a Vancouver studio, is the first in the FIFA series to include women players. Twelve national teams, including Canada, make their digital debut this year. Since launching in 1993, the FIFAgameshavesold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

EA said it does not agree with theNCAA'sposition, adding that "all rights were secured following standard protocol with national governing bodies and federations," and none of the players were going to be paid by EA for their inclusion in the game.

None of the six Canadian players have publicly commented on the situation.

When asked for comment specifically about the loss of Canadian players from a made-in-Canada videogame, EA Vancouver said that the official statement "is the full extent of our comment" on the situation.

"Protecting the interests of our players in the long run is of paramount importance for us and while we are disappointed by the NCAA ruling and its impact on six of our athletes, Canada Soccer is supportive of EA Sports' resulting action to not include them in this year's game," the Canadian Soccer Association said on Friday.

The inclusion of women's teams has been a major focus in EA's promotion of FIFA 16, with women's players joining the men on the coveted cover art. Christine Sinclair will be on the cover in Canadian versions of the game, while Alex Morganwill be on the U.S. cover.

Not the first NCAA/EA dispute

This isn't the first time EA has come into conflict with the NCAA about the inclusion of amateur players in its video games.

In July, a U.S. federal judge approved a $60-million settlement for college athletes in a class-action lawsuit filed against the NCAA and Electronics Arts.

The lawsuit was initiated by former Arizona State and Nebraska player Sam Keller, who argued that college athletes should be paid for their appearances in video games just like professional players are.

As a result of the settlement, EA Sports isn't allowed to make an NCAA video game without compensating the college athletes that appear in the game. But under the NCAA's rules, college athletes aren't allowed to profit from their inclusion in products like video games.

Thanks to this catch-22, EA chose to discontinue the NCAA Football series of games in 2013. It ended EA's 20-year run of making college football video games.

Comedian John Oliver lambasted the organization's treatment of its college athletes during this year's March Madness season on his HBO show Last Week Tonight.

"Athletes are paid in 'an education,' the only currency more difficult to spend than bitcoin," Oliver joked. He ended the segment with a spoof NCAA video game called "March Sadness 2015" where poverty-stricken college athletes fight to keep their sports scholarships while enduring verbal abuse from their coaches.

This hasn't affected the FIFA series before, since all men's players are professionals.

FIFA 16 is slated for general release for all major consoles, Windows PCs and mobile deviceson Tuesday, but subscribers to the EA Access service have been able to play it since Thursday.