At just 15 years of age, talented footballer Kiyan Prince — part of the academy at London club Queens Park Rangers — was murdered outside his school. This week, he is being symbolically resigned as a player by QPR, and will also be appearing tomorrow (May 18) as a player in FIFA 21.
As Reuters report, Framestore (a special effects studio) and scientists from the University of Bradford have worked to imagine what Kiyan would have looked like at age 30, and then teamed up with EA Sports to have his face imported into FIFA, where he’ll appear for his boyhood club and wear the number “30″ to reflect how old he would have been had he not been tragically stabbed in the heart by a fellow teen in 2006.
An organisation established by the boy’s father (former boxing champ Dr Mark Prince), the Kiyan Prince Foundation — which seeks to address youth violence in the UK — has also worked to see Prince’s FIFA likeness appear everywhere from billboards in Piccadilly Circus to ad campaigns for a sneaker store, not only to memorialise Kiyan, but also to help raise awareness for the Foundation’s goals.
“Most of these guys, this generation, they play FIFA, they will see Kiyan and if that can change just one of their mindsets then it will be a benefit,” says former star Les Ferdinand, who is now QPR’s Director of Football.
Leave a Reply