As reported by Eurogamer, Manchester City defender and French National team competitor Benjamin Mendy is out of FIFA 22 online roster, after he was charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in the Chester Crown Court on September 10th.  He was suspended by his club on September 10th, pending the results of the police investigation.

The alleged criminal incidents happened between October 2020 and August 2021, according to the the BBC, with one incident allegedly involving a woman under 18. Mendy is currently awaiting trial, which is set to begin on January 24th, 2022.

EA Games told Eurogamer, regarding the situation: "As Benjamin Mendy has been removed from the active rosters of both Manchester City and the French National team, in FIFA 22 he has also been removed from respective rosters and suspended from appearing in FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) packs and Ultimate Draft while he is awaiting trial." 

EA did confirm to Eurogamer that, while his card will not appear in any packs going forward, he may still appear in an occasional game and could be bought on the in-game auction house. This is because the changes to the card packs were made after some players had already accessed Mendy in packs during the game's 10-hour trial period for EA Play subscribers that started last week before they removed him.

This is not the first time EA has removed players from FIFA over real-world events. In 2019, they removed Marco van Basten from FIFA 20 after he used a Nazi salute on live television. They also removed Emiiliano Sala from FIFA that same year, after he died in a plane crash.