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What's the story?
Indian football fans might wanna look away now because FIFA 18 has just come out with yet another addition to their latest roster of franchises and it doesn't make for good reading if you're an Indian Super League (ISL) fan.
EA Sports confirmed today that FIFA 18 will include Germany's third division, also known as '3. Liga' around Europe in its latest game. FUThead.com confirmed the inclusion of the third division German league in its own statement regarding the emerging story.
A blog post on the matter read as follows and was confirmed by Dailystar UK: "If you're not super familiar with the German third division, you're not alone. I'm a Bayern Munich supporter and even I could probably only rattle off two or three clubs if pressed. But perhaps surprisingly, it's one of the more popular ancillary pro leagues out there. And with England's Top 4 flights already represented in FIFA, it was only a matter of time before Germany got in on the act too. If you're looking for a deeper German career mode, say with the likes of SpVgg Unterhaching or Karlsruher SC this coming Autumn, you're in luck."
In case you didn't know...
The Chinese Super League (CSL) will also not be included in the game but Indian fans were hoping that ISL could make its first appearance in the game this year.
The heart of the matter
The inclusion of the German third division comes after FIFA had successfully managed to rope in all the divisions in England for its games in the past and will now allow a more detailed career mode journey within Germany for gamers around the world.
ISL, unfortunately, will most likely be unable to find itself in FIFA 18 now that the release date of the game is almost upon us and so far no news has appeared on the matter. While some fans still remain optimistic, it is increasingly becoming clear that only the Indian national team will represent the tricolour in FIFA 18.
What's next?
FIFA 18 will release on 29th September 2017 and will see its arrival on PS4, Xbox One, PC and FIFA on Nintendo Switch.
Author's take
It is unfortunate that a country with 1.35 billion people and a rising audience in football is still only represented by the national team in FIFA gaming. The ISL brings in a large number of viewers every year and it would have been in EA Sports' best interests to bring the league to gamers around the world. Nevertheless, fan excitement remains high for the impending FIFA 18 release.
