The developer of Football Manager has insisted it did not change the way the game works in response to an allegation of racism.
An article published in The i newspaper this week alleged Sports Interactive altered the way the simulation's widely-used player database works following the publication of an online article in 2019 that accused Football Manager of having "a racism problem".
Football Manager's database represents real-world footballers by a number of stats (roughly 250 each) covering a variety of aspects from the physical (Pace, Strength, Shooting, Tackling etc) to the mental (Adaptability, Creativity, Decisions, Leadership etc). These stats are initially compiled by a network of more than 1000 researchers around the world, then refined and compiled into the final database by Sports Interactive's in-house team.