Sydney Leroux has hit back at FIFA 23 after seeing how she was represented in the latest version of the best-selling video game.
The Canadian player is just one of many female footballers who are unhappy with how they were portrayed in the game, with many of them taking to social media to vent their frustration.
As well as the Angel FC star, other footballers have shared their thoughts about their digital doubles, including Portland Thorns Janine Beckie and the San Diego Wave’s Kailen Sheridan.
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Taking to Twitter on 23 March, Beckie also hilariously poked fun at her animated self as she shared a recent photo and a less-than-flatting screengrab of her character.
With a deep scowl and dark brunette hair, it was pretty hard to tell the character had been based on the Portland Thorns player.
Beckie joked in the caption: “Found my long lost twin! Fraternal obviously.” Leroux also retweeted Beckie's comment.
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And others soon joined in, as Sheridan also savagely criticised her character’s constantly changing hairstyles in the game, which showed her as bald for some matches.
Her tweet read: “Bruhhh how I go from shaved had for Canada and a full bun in San Diego, this Bosley hair grown ain't no joke.”
Leroux also made a pointed tweet about the gaming gaff, as she wrote: “I know you expect women to just be thankful and grateful that you’ve given us a little sliver of publicity but please stop wasting our time. Some of us are bald.”
However, the Canadian player also poked fun at herself in a series of tweets about her, um, ‘chesty’ character.
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In a playful post, Leroux asked for amendments to her FIFA character and wrote: “They had the headband, the braid, the neck tattoo, the overly plucked brows and someone even made me CHESTYYYY!!!!
"Deflate my boobs a bit and put a different jersey on.”
Adding a series of emojis, including a crying one, she joked: "I’ll keep the brows at this point.”
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The mum-of-two also joked that the animation would ‘scare her children’, as she shared a photo of her character looking particularly pretty peeved.
Leroux’s frustration was clear as she uploaded another image from the game, writing: “Please tell me I did not do an entire body scan for that.”
Whilst most of the player's comments are tongue-in-cheek, it’s raised important questions about representation of women in football.
Katherine Sidnell