UK Ministers to investigate the circumstances behind the collapse of Football Index
Football punters lose sums amounting to almost 100 million pounds after company was put under administration
The Sunday Times reported that UK Government Ministers are set to investigate the circumstances behind the collapse of betting company Football Index. When the betting firm Football Index collapsed, up to £100 million was lost by football fans.
The UK licensed and regulated gambling Football Index allowed customers to gamble on both the future success of football players and the rules of the platform itself.
In order for customers to win daily payouts they would purchase imaginary shares based on the performance of the players of the day they had a match. It would later on pay out top trending footballers each day.
The platform decided to cut dividends from 14p down to 3p on players. With customers loosing huge sums of money the company saw an exodus of bettors leaving the site.
In March 2021 the platform suspended all trading. The platform entered administration in March 2021 and is now suspended by the UKGC without a gambling licence. Standard body BGC also took it upon themselves to suspend its membership.
A government source said that “This case further reinforces the need for our comprehensive review of gambling laws. This independent investigation into Football Index will feed into that work and if we need to make changes to regulation to protect people, we will.”
The company informed the customers in a statement “Until such time as the administrators are in office, the platform will remain suspended and no trading or payment transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, will be possible.”
The UKGC had been warned about the Football Index back in January of the same year.
The independent investigation will carry on as the platforms saw huge sums of money being traded. During the 2018/2019 football season, £4.3 million was paid out to traders through dividends, with a total of over £321 million traded on the platform for the season.
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