Fifa 16: Why the 'jokes' about women are wrong

Fifa 2016 will feature women's teams for the first time ever.

England captain Steph Houghton says she is "looking forward to scoring" as herself, as her team is one of the squads included on the new computer game.

But news from EA Sports of the 12 new teams was met with a chorus of "jokes" on social media about women playing sport.

Not only are many of them unfunny, they're also wrong. Here's why:

Ash wrote on Twitter: "FIFA 16 Career Mode: Your star striker has been ruled out for 9 months due to pregnancy."

The FA says that women can play football for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, although they acknowledge there may be risks from injury and recommend not playing for the second and third trimesters.

They also say women should not play for a fortnight after giving birth. That still only totals about 30 weeks, or seven months.

"The FA will fully support any England women's player should they wish to take maternity leave or spend time concentrating on their family life," says the organisation.

George wrote on Twitter: "Why would they put women in FIFA when 95% of players are boys??? Makes no sense."

Since Fifa was first launched in 1993, the number of women playing in affiliated league and cup competitions has risen from 10,400 to 147,000.

More than a million girls play some kind of football, the FA says, so while there may be fewer professional opportunities for women, it doesn't mean they aren't playing football.

Don wrote on Twitter: "Fifa 16 a player may have a bad game coz of her period."

"Girls now, they do choose to take the pill and they do it around major tournaments so that they know they won't be on their period," says Sue Smith, a player for England and Doncaster.

"For me personally I've been quite fortunate that I haven't had the physical pains that I know a lot of sportswomen do get, like the belly ache."

Bathwese wrote on Twitter: "I dunno why EA's introducing women teams on fifa 16... unless they gonna exchange jerseys at the end of a match."

Well yes, sometimes they do exchange shirts, but given that most players wear sports bras, it's not like you're really going to be able to see anything that wouldn't be featured in a PG-rated film.

Hamza wrote on Twitter: "Women are in next FIFA game, damn you feminism, you've ruined everything."

Feminism could be said to be to blame, in that it has helped women gain opportunities in many fields, including sport.

But ruining "everything"? Really?

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