I have had a look into this issue and it seems to have been a large problem only affecting some copies of the game!

There is talk suggesting that the issue has been fixed in a recent patch, but as I haven’t personally seen the problem myself I am unable to say that for certain. If you search google for the issue there are sites which offer possible manual fixes but I wouldn’t suggest to try any of these as they don’t seem correct after looking at my copy.

If you have a genuine problem with this try backing up your game save (copy the entire folder called “Electronic Arts”) located in “My Documents” and try uninstalling and reinstalling the game as it maybe caused by a bad install. If the problem persists then contact EA, who will be able to tell you what to do without messing up your game.

If you are unsure of how to contact EA turn to page 32 of the game guild (UK) and choose appropriately.