I am already trying to work out how to explain to my seven year old son why Ronaldo is playing for a team called "Piemonte Calcio" when he eventually gets his hands on FIFA 20 in the Autumn. The real story is that Konami has pulled off a bit of a coup in securing the exclusive right to use Juventus' name and brand in PES 2020, the upcoming latest instalment in its Pro Evolution Soccer game. 

EA has suffered many licensing challenges of this nature before with its FIFA title. Italy's Serie A was referred to as "Calcio A" in FIFA 2017 and FIFA 2018 and Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium is missing from the current edition of the game thanks to an exclusive Konami licence.

It is also worth noting that, while Konami is no small cookie in terms of games companies with a market cap of around GBP 5 billion, EA is some four times bigger and has the clout to repel any serious challenge from its Japanese rivals. 

The loss of Juventus though, a massive club enjoying an enhanced profile following the signing of Ronaldo last summer, is likely to sting for a little while.  In the meantime, I will be attempting to school my son in the vagaries of the sports licensing business.