{"id":167078,"date":"2021-03-12T08:03:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T16:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=167078"},"modified":"2021-07-19T01:15:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T08:15:48","slug":"football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Index Scandal: Stricken Soccer Trading Platform’s License Suspended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football Index<\/a> announced Thursday it will enter into administration, as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) pulled the license of its parent company, Bet Index.<\/p>\n

\"Football
The Football Index logo emblazoned across the shirt of Queens Park Rangers\u2019 Ilias Chair. They recently pulled the Bet Index license. (Image: Rex)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The platform billed itself as a combination of fantasy sports and the stock market. But last week, it suffered a market crash when it announced a cut to dividends for users \u201cin order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement caused a stampede of panic selling, leading share prices to plunge and, ultimately, the suspension of the platform. Users lost vast sums of money overnight. Now, they remain in limbo, uncertain whether they will ever be able to withdraw their suddenly diminished balances.<\/p>\n

Ponzi Scheme Accusations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Because of its high profile, at least in the UK, the collapse of the Football Index could be one of the biggest online gambling<\/a> scandals since Black Friday and the implosion of Full Tilt Poker. Some users are now questioning whether its demise was inevitable, likening the platform to a Ponzi or pyramid scheme.<\/p>\n

\n

Football Index invited its users to buy and sell \u201cshares\u201d in soccer players, in the same way you might buy shares in a company. These would rise and fall in value based on a player\u2019s performance over time, or increase or decrease in actual monetary value in the real-world transfer market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The platform had extensive advertising visibility in and around soccer, including on the jerseys of EFL Championship teams Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n

Football Index continually reassured users about its financial health, especially during the pandemic. The company also claimed to be less risky and more \u201cresponsible\u201d than traditional betting companies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Seeking Restructuring\u2019 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Thursday, it assured users that what\u2019s left of their balances would be held in a segregated account, but that withdrawals would be suspended until administrators were in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dividend restructure announced on Friday was a necessary step in a business recovery plan to seek the long-term sustainability of the platform,\u201d the company said on its landing page. \u201cHowever, it is clear that this has not been well- received, and we need to find a more agreeable way forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pursuing a restructuring arrangement to be agreed with our stakeholders, including, most importantly, our community,\u201d it continued. \u201cWe are preparing this through an administration with insolvency practitioners Begbies Traynor, to seek the best outcome for customers, with the goal of continuing the platform in a restructured form.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UKGC said it had suspended Bet Index\u2019s gambling license pending an investigation into the company. However, questions are already being asked as to whether Football Index should ever have been licensed at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Football Index announced Thursday it will enter into administration, as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) pulled the license of its parent company, Bet Index. The platform billed itself as a combination of fantasy sports and the stock market. But last week, it suffered a market crash when it announced a cut to dividends for users […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":167079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFootball Index Scandal: Stricken Soccer Platform License Suspended<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Football Index and Bet Index lose gambling license as company enters into administration following last Friday market crash.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Football Index Scandal: Stricken Soccer Platform License Suspended\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Football Index and Bet Index lose gambling license as company enters into administration following last Friday market crash.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-12T16:03:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T08:15:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/football-index.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"982\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"726\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/\",\"name\":\"Football Index Scandal: Stricken Soccer Platform License Suspended\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/football-index.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-12T16:03:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-19T08:15:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Football Index and Bet Index lose gambling license as company enters into administration following last Friday market crash.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/football-index-scandal-stricken-soccer-platform-license-suspended\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/football-index.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/football-index.jpg\",\"width\":982,\"height\":726,\"caption\":\"The Football Index logo emblazoned across the shirt of Queens Park Rangers\u2019 Ilias Chair. 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