Turkey-based blockchain company Bitci has been forced to refute claims that its NFT partnership with World Cup favourites Brazil has been terminated by the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF).
Brazilian sports business publication Máquina do Esporte claimed several missed payments forced the CBF to tear up its contract with Bitci.
Rumours have been swirling for a while that all may not be well in the Bitci camp after its branding was missing from a sponsorship backdrop used when Brazil announced its World Cup squad.
But a Bitci statement said: “The contracts between the Brazilian national team and Bitci are valid and in force. There has been no notice of termination to Bitci.”
Despite the Turkish crypto firm’s defiance Bitci sought to clarify that NFTs produced as part of the partnership would also be valid – regardless of whether the sponsorship deal was to cease.
The statement continued: “Even if the sponsorship agreement somehow ends, this does not change the reality that BFT is the legitimate and only Brazilian national team fan token.
“In other words, the offering, listing, trading and circulation of BFT are all legitimate and lawful. No crypto asset on the secondary trading market is subject to the continuation or expiration of a sponsorship agreement.”
Bitci also used the statement to announce its intention to launch criminal and civil proceedings against rival fan token platform Socios chief executive Alexandre Dreyfus.
“Alex Dreyfus does not engage in fair and honest competition, but rather hopes to harm Bitci and its investors through unfair attacks”, read the statement after Dreyfus shared the initial article on Twitter.
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