The United Kingdom government is going to launch a new investigation to understand the reasons behind the collapse of the Football Index, which offers a unique UK Gambling service. Football Index is a self-styled football player trading exchange that is run by none other than BetIndex. As per the statement to The Times, the ministers are very concerned. They described the collapse of the Football Index as the biggest collapse in the history of the UK Gambling industry.
According to reports, UK customers have over £100m trapped in the Football Index platform. Such a case might have a great impact on the ongoing 2005 Gambling Act of 2005. A source also informed the times that the case is going to reinforce and encourage the need for a comprehensive review of the UK gambling laws. It is going to feed the review with information about the changes that need to happen to protect people.
What Did the Platform – Football Index – Offer?
BetIndex is the company that operates Football Index. Adam Cole founded the platform back in 2015, but he stepped down as its CEO this January, and he was replaced by Mike Bohan. It has a betting license from the UK Gambling Commission. On the other hand, it did not offer any conventional sports betting services. Instead of a traditional form of betting, it described itself as a “stock market of football players.”
It allowed punters to buy shares in their chosen players, and then they would receive dividends according to the performance of the players in real-life matches. Punters could also trade these shares to other players for profit after paying a small commission as a trading fee to the Football Index platform. In 2019, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) criticized the platform. It stated that it created the false impression that the product is a lucrative opportunity for investment.
What Happened to The Betting Platform?
The platform has entered administration. That means that all of the deposits of the UK gambling punters became inaccessible inside the platform. Plenty of players claimed to have over £100,000 in open bets at the time when the platform went offline. As a result, the UK Gambling Commission, the British Regulator, suspended the license of BetIndex. It is a result of not acting sooner before the platform collapsed and went offline. There are also talks about class litigation because of the collapse. That litigation might even target the UK Gambling Commission itself, in addition to the Football Index.
Nichola Marshall, who is a partner at Leigh Day, stated that the investigation is still in its early stages. On the other hand, there are hundreds and thousands of people who lost their money, and as a result, there are some really dangerous questions that will need answers. These questions include what happened to the Football Index and why did it collapse. It also includes what the UK Gambling commission understood of the activities of the platform. Nottingham Forest and the Queens Park Rangers have both dropped Football Index as the shirt sponsor following their collapse.
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