Football Manager: what it is and how to play in Brazil

When we think of football games, it immediately comes to mind FIFA Where PES (now renamed as eFootball), right? In these titles, players control athletes in matches on the field, as if we were watching a real game on television. But there are also other games with the same theme for those who prefer more strategy and less action: it’s the case of Football Manager (FM), which puts you in the shoes of the coach of a football team.

No FM, you create your custom coach avatar, assign players, strategize for each game, and even work behind the scenes to turn your team into the greatest team in the world’s sport. The decisions you make, of course, affect the present and future of the club as a whole.

The next game in the franchise, Football Manager 2022, will be released on November 9th for PC, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Android and iOS phones. The title will also make it to the Xbox Game Pass catalog, a subscription service that starts at R$29.99 per month. But not in Brazil.

Why is Football Manager not sold in Brazil?

O Football Manager it has not been sold in Brazil since 2017. According to the producer Sports Interactive and the distributor SEGA, this is due to licensing issues.

“Unfortunately we cannot distribute the game in this region at this time,” Sports Interactive reported to the website Trivel in 2016 through an official statement. SEGA said that “for licensing reasons, we are currently unable to sell Football Manager in Brazil”.

It is worth remembering that in that same year, the game already faced problems with some Brazilian clubs, such as Flamengo, which was inserted with the name “Flemish” and different colors from the traditional red-black. To this day, the game doesn’t display team names and symbols correctly.

This is a recurrent problem, especially in Brazil. Around here, when a game studio contacts the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for a partner, only the logo, ball and trophy of the Brazilian Championship may be used. If the game wants to use the names, symbols and uniforms of the teams, the negotiation must be done individually with each team. Another obstacle is the Pelé Law (Law No. 9,615, of March 24, 1998), which protects the image rights of Brazilian players: for an athlete to be included in a game, it is necessary to negotiate individually with each one.

This is also because the CBF, unlike confederations in other countries, is not affiliated with FIFPro (International Federation of Professional Football Players). The organization represents several players around the world, working as a kind of “union” or “union”, mediating negotiations with game studios.

If a company is sued, it can lose a lot of money. In 2019, for example, Electronic Arts was fined by the Brazilian Court of more than R$7 million for improper use of the image of athletes. That’s why, in SEGA’s view, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

This does not prevent, however, the players themselves from adding their teams and athletes of heart to the game. As the game is available for the computer, it is relatively easy to change its source code, create modifications (known mods) and share them on the internet. However, you must be careful, as the practice is not officially approved by companies and can damage your computer with viruses and corrupted files.

Is it possible to buy Football Manager legally?

Yes, it is possible. Even if the game is not marketed in Brazil, users can legally buy Football Manager — including the future Football Manager 2022, which will be released on November 9th.

To do so, all you need to do is have a Steam or Epic Games Store account of a nationality other than Brazilian. You must also have an active international credit card. The problem is that, in some cases, you will need to use a VPN (virtual private network) and change your location artificially, so that the store understands that you are physically in that country. Pay attention to the rules of each store.

In this case, it is also necessary to be careful: there are people who charge to do all this work, since it is necessary to have a little more technical knowledge. So, be warned: be careful not to fall for scams. If the use of VPN can be waived, the process is easier, you only need your international account on Steam or Epic and the card to buy the game.

Will Football Manager 2022 enter the Brazilian Xbox Game Pass?

We don `t know yet. O Canaltech got in touch with the Brazilian Xbox advisory and still got no response.

The Game Pass catalog doesn’t usually have differences between countries: it’s the same games in Brazil and the United States, for example. However, as the case of the Football Manager it’s recent, we’ll have to wait for a return from Microsoft.

Football Manager 2022 will hit the Game Pass on launch day, November 9th.

Source: Adrenaline, ESPN, Planalto, Trivela, UOL