Fifa 10 Cover
Alyssa Dipiero
There have been a lot of cover stars for FIFA games. Many games feature multiple athletes, and newer games even feature multiple versions, with different stars on each cover. Wayne Rooney might be on a lot of them, but starring on the cover of a FIFA game marks you as one of the biggest names in the sport.
The Norwegian goalkeeper takes pride of place on the cover of FIFA Soccer 95, and was probably chosen simply because of this excellent action shot, rather than his talents specifically. Sorry, Erik.
This is the era of trios on the cover, and admittedly, you might not remember this trio of players. Andriy Shevchenko is considered to be the only player that delivered during this era of soccer. Shame.
Get used to these two names. Wayne Rooney is one of the biggest names in soccer even today, and you know the name Ronaldinho. Take a good look at their faces. Remember them. They defined football for a very long time. The dramatic rain scene is a first, too.
As hard as it may be to comprehend, the era of FIFA is now over. Back in 2022, EA and the footballing body decided against continuing their business partnership, and instead, the video game series is now known as EA Sports FC, with EA Sports FC 24 being the inaugural entry.
From 1993 to 2022, some of the most famous footballers in the history of the sport graced FIFA's covers, and below, you'll find the internet's most exhaustive list. You might assume that FIFA has only used a handful of cover stars per release, but, as you can see from the images below, some entries have multiple cover stars, with EA choosing to give individual regions or countries their own unique overly design.
Marco Reus, Eden Hazard, James Rodrguez and Anthony Martial were announced as the official ambassadors of FIFA 17. After a global cover vote conducted by EA Sports, Reus was selected to be the cover star.
Depending on where you are in the world, there will be special regional covers which feature Messi and other superstars. Over nine million votes were cast in the FIFA 16 Cover Vote, which helped decide who joined Messi on the cover of the game in Australia, France, Latin America, Mexico and The United Kingdom.
* Net amounts may vary depending on the taxation situation of the individual Council member.
** An annual pension payment is made to long-serving FIFA Council members not falling under the FIFA Compensation, Expenses and Benefits Regulations for Senior Officials, which entered into force in March 2017. Previous pension entitlements are limited to a maximum of the number of years that the member has served on the Council.
*** As at 31 December 2021, the FIFA management comprised the President and the Secretary General, the two Deputy Secretaries General and the ten division Chief Officers. FIFA management members ending or starting their employment during the year were compensated on a pro-rata basis.
The gross salary (variable) awarded in 2021 will be paid in 2022. The amounts listed above are before taxes payable by the President and the Secretary General. As with all of its employees, FIFA contributes to the Swiss social charges, pension fund, accident insurance and other employee benefits for both the President and the Secretary General.
In addition to the annual flat-rate compensation paid to chairpersons and deputy chairpersons, members of independent committees and independent members of all FIFA standing committees are granted a daily allowance while on duty of USD 250, or USD 150 if FIFA covers breakfast and lunch or dinner.
* Mukul Mudgal is also the chairperson of the Review Committee and of the Compensation Sub-Committee, but did not receive any compensation for these roles. Chris Mihm is also a member of the Review Committee, but did not receive any compensation for this role. Alejandro Domnguez is also a member of the Compensation Sub-Committee, but did not receive any compensation for this role.
** Members of the FIFA Council do not receive additional compensation for their roles as chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of FIFA committees.
*** Individuals ending or starting their terms during the year were compensated on a pro-rata basis.
Under the FIFA Statutes, the external auditors (currently PwC) are appointed by the FIFA Congress, and are responsible for auditing the annual consolidated financial statements of FIFA and submitting an audit report to the FIFA Council. In addition to the statutory audit, PwC also provided other assurance-related and non-audit services to FIFA.
Chelsea and Australia star Sam Kerr will appear alongside Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbapp when the final edition of the FIFA series is launched before it is rebranded in 2024 as EA Sports FC. They will both feature on the FIFA Ultimate edition global cover, with Mbapp set to appear alone on the standard edition of the game.
Stop. Before you wade in with a comment along the lines of "just another stupid VICE hit-piece on something popular," stop. The FIFA games are great. I've been playing them since the very first one came out for the Mega Drive in 1993. I bought the version that followed for the Mega-CD, with David Platt in England action on the cover and a raft of Italia 90 clips fuzzily shown between the gameplay itself. I bought FIFA 96 for Sega's 16bit machine, and switched up to FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 come the PlayStation's arrival. FIFA 15 is sat in front of me, right now, and I've several more versions from the years leading up to it hidden away in the loft.
Nutshell: I totally dig FIFA. This is not a hit-piece. It is written with love. My favourite football game of all time will always be Sensible Soccer, but that's not exactly capable of delivering the same fantasy fulfilment as EA's long-running series, in which I can take Southampton to the Champion's League final in believable, Sky Sports-style presentation that just about helps me forget about all the players we no longer have. But something is bugging me about the upcoming FIFA 16.
It's sure to play brilliantly, the closest that sofa-dwellers can get to the real thing using just their thumbs. It will take the football sim race beyond Konami's admirably deep but oddly cold efforts with PES. The look and feel of the experience will be top-notch, of that I've little doubt. And the introduction of a dozen national women's teams is a great move for the series, especially after an incredible Women's World Cup Finals, which has elevated the global profile of the women's game like no other tournament before it.
While we're at it, what size feet does Messi have? He wears a ten, says the internet, but this cover implies, using urban mythology, that what he's packing inside his shorts must be akin to a salami sausage sizeable enough to feed a family of eight for a month. A right monster, lurking beneath the breathable man-made fabric. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.
Women get a better deal just north of the border, though, as FIFA 16's Canadian cover features national captain (and bona-fide women's football legend) Christine Sinclair looking a lot more natural than her American peer, even if there's something slightly sketchy about the detailing of her facial features. Australians also get a woman on their FIFA 16 artwork, namely Melbourne Victory defender Steph Catley, alongside an unnamed, presumably also Australian, male player (note that the image above is not the final design).
Electronic Arts announced on Thursday that Real Madrid midfielder Kaka would be on the cover of EA Sports FIFA Soccer 11 which hits stores September 28 in North America. Kaka follows in the footsteps of past cover athletes like Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho (the Brazilian has appeared on the cover of seven EA games). Kaka, the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year, recently ranked No. 31 on Forbes list of the world's highest paid athletes with earnings of $25.6 million over the past 12-months. His other endorsement deals include Adidas and Sony.
EA Sports has turned FIFA Soccer into the most popular video game in the world (in North America Madden and NCAA Football still outsell FIFA). There are a few video game franchises that sell more units than FIFA Soccer like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Nintendo's Mario series, but not on an annual basis. FIFA Soccer 10 was the biggest sports video game launch in history selling 4.5 million units in its first five weeks. It went on to sell more than 10 million copies. Sometime during 2010 Electonic Arts will sell the 100 millionth unit in the lifetime of the FIFA franchise.
If someone held you at gunpoint and forced you to write down every player you could remember from the 1994-95 season, the chances of you penning down Norwegian goalkeeper and inexplicable FIFA 95 cover star Erik Thorstvedt within the first 72 hours are slim.
FIFA went with region-specific stars for its covers in different countries in 2000, which meant English fans were treated to Sol Campbell on their covers, while Italian, Spanish, and American gamers got the above national players.
Players from Germany pose for the team photo as they cover their mouth during the World Cup group E soccer match between Germany and Japan on Wednesday. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP hide caption
It seemed to be a response to FIFA's warning to the seven European federations, including Germany's, that players would be penalized if they wore colorful "One Love" armbands as a symbol for inclusion and diversity. The seven team captains had planned to wear the armbands.
Soccer's governing body issued the warning Monday just hours before the first teams were set to play with their captain wearing the armband. FIFA said the players would immediately be shown a yellow card.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who is also responsible for sports, wore a "One Love" armband in the stands at the Germany-Japan game. Faeser tweeted a photo of herself wearing it with the hashtag #OneLove.
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