Football fan gamers were left red-faced when pop star Dua Lipa, a featured player in the new FIFA 2021 game, appeared to be groped on the chest by unwitting teammates during a goal celebration.
English diva Lipa, born in Pristina of Kosovar-Albanian heritage, was a controversial inclusion by gaming giants EA Sports, and further bemused hardcore fans by being given a face scan to perfect her likeness, while other players such as Manchester United starlet Mason Greenwood went without.
However, the vast majority of fans clambered over themselves to get a hold of the game simply to catch a glimpse of the 'One Kiss' singer in her football kit.
But it seems the practicalities of having a female pop singer are a little deeper than just its shock factor and selling power. The behavior of her teammates rather mirrored the minds of those acquiring the game simply to have Lipa under their command.
This was demonstrated by one user who, after scoring a goal with Lipa in the side of the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur, watched as she received a celebratory pat on the chest from teammates Dele Alli and Lucas Moura.
"Who thought putting Dua Lipa into FIFA was a good idea," the man holding his joystick wrote on Twitter, perhaps echoing the thoughts of many other fellow gamers. Another commented: "Incoming restraining order for Dele Alli..."
The 25-year-old Lipa was added to the game alongside recently-crowned world Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, his Australian F1 rival Daniel Ricciardo, Cameroonian NBA player Joel Embiid, and iconic former England skipper David Beckham.