Members of the UK Parliament have called on the government to regulate crypto assets in the Premier League and football pyramid in a bid to protect supporters from the risks.
More and more football clubs in England’s top-flight are entertaining sponsorship deals involving crypto assets. Whether it be crypto sportsbooks, NFTs or exchange partners.
The prevalence of these types of deals has led to a Westminster debate called by Conservative MP for Newcastle-Under-Lyme Aaron Bell who raised concerns.
“I hope this debate has raised awareness of the problems with crypto asset promotions within sport and put pressure on the government and sport’s governing bodies to act.
“Many crypto assets have little or no intrinsic value and serve predominantly as a vehicle for financial speculation.”
Football clubs have been falling over themselves to get their slice of the crypto pie with the likes of Sportsbet.io securing deals with Arsenal and Southampton.
Even the Premier League is looking into launching a range of NFTs in the coming months with a partnership with SoRare believed to be worth around £30m on the horizon.
However, there have been several stories of teams failing to do their research when agreeing partnerships with crypto assets, leaving club bosses red faced and investors with burnt fingers.
These include Barnsley’s short-lived deal with Hex.com who cancelled their arrangements following homophobic Tweets from someone linked to the deal and Birmingham City’s Ultimo GG partnership.
On NFTs, Bell added: “The products also lack protection for the consumer buying them. If consumers don’t know what such schemes are about, then they probably shouldn’t be investing in it.
“Additionally, the clubs, leagues and players promoting such schemes have frequently not undertaken the necessary due diligence, putting their own fans at financial risk.
“I will happily work with government and other interested parties to achieve protection for fans and constituents alike.”
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