Football Manager 2017 simulates Brexit
The latest edition of Sports Interactive’s popular management game has proven itself to be in touch with current affairs in the real world, with the EU referendum result included
The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union has been incorporated into the latest edition of Football Manager.
The makers of the 2017 version of the popular simulation game, which is due to be released next month, have shown themselves to be in touch with current affairs with their inclusion of the Brexit vote and its wider consequences.
Virtual managers taking charge of clubs in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar could be faced with either “hard” or “soft” Brexit scenarios, which will affect the issuing of work permits to EU players.
In a further twist, some users will be confronted with Scottish independence, with some commentators believing that the vote to leave the EU could lead to a partial break-up of the UK.
“I started working on the feature on the Saturday morning after the vote,” the game’s director Miles Jacobson told the BBC. “I was trying to work out how it would affect my business and the sport that I love.
“I sat on the sofa for two days reading as much as I could from the pro and anti-Brexit camps. The fact that this is going to happen in the next few years means that it really has to be in the game.
“When we were working on it, the idea of a hard Brexit had a lower chance of happening than is now the case – we changed that with the Tory conference.”
