Women athletes are starting to earn more respect and attention in the world of sports. After helping her team win the Women’s Soccer World Cup 2015 in Canada, Alex Morgan will be the first female athlete ever who’s face will appear on the cover of the EA Sports FIFA video game series.
“It’s exciting to be part of the history in the making right now”, says Morgan in her interview with HuffPost. Morgan will join Lionel Messi, the best male soccer player, on this year’s cover, which will be released September 22 in the United States. On the other hand, Christine Sinclaire will appear alongside Messi on the cover of the Canadian edition. In this edition, Gamers will be able to choose from 12 women’s national teams, to compete in online Match Days and Tournaments. This cover will change a lot for female athletes in the near future. Players of the U.S. Women’s National team earned $2 million for the World Cup win, compared to men who earned $35 million for last year’s win. Let’s look at athletes that have been on the video game cover in the past 22 years.
| Name(s) | Year | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| David Platt + Piotr Swierczewski | 1994 | Male |
| Erik Thorstvedt | 1995 | Male |
| Frank de Boer + Jason McAteer | 1996 | Male |
| David Ginola | 1997 | Male |
| David Beckham | 1998 | Male |
| Dennis Bergkamp | 1999 | Male |
| Sol Campbel | 2000 | Male |
| Paul Scholes | 2001 | Male |
| Thierry Henry | 2002 | Male |
| Edgar Davids, Roberto Carlos+ Ryan Giggs | 2003 | Male |
| Thierry Henry,Alessandro Del Piero +Ronaldinho | 2004 | Male |
| Patrick Vieira, Fernando Morientes + Andriy Shevchenko | 2005 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney + Ronaldinho | 2006 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney + Ronaldinho | 2007 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney + Ronaldinho | 2008 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney + Ronaldinho | 2009 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcoot + Frank Lampard | 2010 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney+ Kaka | 2011 | Male |
| Wayne Rooney | 2012 | Male |
| Lionel Messi | 2013 | Male |
| Lionel Messi+Gareth Bale | 2014 | Male |
| Lionel Messi+ Eden Hazard | 2015 | Male |
| Lionel Messi + Alex Morgan | 2016 | Male+Female |
One question the shown graph right away reveals is: “why didn’t FIFA put a female soccer player on the cover in 1999, when the United States hosted and won the Women’s World Cup?” The graph above presents the names of athletes, the year of publication, and the gender that has been covered on the FIFA video game series. The first cover came out in 1994 and since then, solitary male athletes appeared on the cover until this year. If we analyze the graph further, we realize that Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho were presented together on the cover from 2006-2009. Rooney became a regular feature face until 2012. Lionel Messi took over the cover in 2013 and has been on it until today.
How important is this to the Women’s sports world?
"It gives women’s soccer another platform to showcase the advancement in the sport," explains Morgan to the Huffington Post. Awareness and more popularity will be granted towards female athletes. It seems like it is perfect timing considering that the United States just won the Women’s World Cup in Canada a few weeks ago. Due to the introduction of a female on the world’s best selling video game, not only women’s soccer, but all other women’s sports will hopefully gain more respect and equality to men’s sports.
This blog post was written by Samford University student Annika Hepp.
Sources
Asante, I. (2015, July 21). FIFA 16 US Cover: Alex Morgan Joins Lionel Messi | Mozaic Sports. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
A Bunch Of Men Are Freaking Out Because The Latest "FIFA" Game Includes Women. (2015, May 28). Retrieved July 24, 2015.
McCalmont, L. (2015, July 20). Retrieved July 24, 2015.
McCarthy, M. (n.d.). Alex Morgan Will Be the First Female Cover Star for EA's FIFA Video Game. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
Picture (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2015. Google.
