Marco van Basten removed from Fifa 20 indefinitely after shocking Nazi remark on TV

Cut: Marco van Basten has been dropped from Fifa 20 over his remarks on live TV.
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Joe Krishnan3 December 2019

EA Sports have removed former footballer Marco van Basten from Fifa 20 until further notice after the Dutchman's shocking 'Sieg Heil' remark on live television.

The 55-year-old was suspended by Fox Sports for a week after being caught uttering the phrase - which was commonly used with a salute during the Nazi rule in Germany - back in November.

Van Basten reportedly made the comment off-screen when criticising TV presenter Hans Kraay's grasp of German while interviewing Heracles Almelo coach Frank Wormuth.

He later apologised in a statement: "It was not my intention at all to shock people. I only wanted to 'explain' Hans' German."

But in a message addressed to the Fifa Community on Monday night, EA Sports revealed in a they would be removing Van Basten from its Fifa Ultimate Team (FUT) mode indefinitely.

Van Basten's FUT 20 Icon will not appear in the game "until further notice" Photo: EA Sports
EA Sports

"We have an expectation that our commitment to equality and diversity is upheld across our game," the message read.

"As such, we will suspend Marco van Basten ICON items from being available in Packs, SBCs and FUT Draft until further notice."

The decision will not affect those who already own the van Basten icon in their FUT teams.

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