The validatory associations made by Football Index to encourage users may be banned in future

Football Index and its subsequent crash is has sent out ripples in all directions. Initially, Football Index was supported by the great and the good. Some of whom are living to regret their close association with the gambling platform. Founded in 2015 the platform employed a strategy of association with reputable organisations and individuals aimed at projecting an ethos of trustworthiness. Three football clubs accepted kit sponsorship from Football Index, Queen’s Park Rangers, Bristol Rovers and Nottingham Forest. In 2018 John Motson, the well-known respected football commentator, became the voice and face of Football Index appearing across their adverts.

In 2019 Football Index joined Nasdaq’s (the American stock exchange based in New York City) expanding list of new markets, distinct from financial services, that are rely on Nasdaq’s marketplace technology to accelerate their business growth. Despite the gambling industry’s reservations about Football Index from the onset, Nasdaq highlighted the deal with an interview on its website and displayed Football Index’s logo and an image of the founder’s face on a digital billboard on its seven-story Nasdaq tower in Times Square, New York.

Giambrone’s banking and financial litigation team believe that users of Football Index were, in part, reassured by the well-thought-of organisations that appeared to associate with Football Index, providing the gambling platform with a gloss of respectability. In light of the collapse of Football Index many users have said that the association with Nasdaq together with the fact it used the language of the financial investment markets gave them confidence in the platform. Many may have believed that Football Index was regulated by financial regulators and not gambling authorities. The frequent references to Nasdaq and describing itself as a stock market could be regarded as a deliberate attempt to mislead or deceive.

Giambrone’s banking and financial litigation lawyers have developed a route to compensation following financial fraud and Giambrone’s experienced lawyers are in the process of building a group litigation case to assist users of Football Index to recover their lost funds. A group litigation case not only spreads the cost of litigation between the participants thereby lowering the cost to each individual, it also is far more persuasive in court where the judge will see that there was a deliberate and repeated procedure aimed at deceiving the users of Football Index. 

Many people lost life-changing amounts of money and are of the opinion that had there been true transparency the gambling platform would have been recognised for what it was and would not have been confused with an investment platform where shares have equity. The collapse of Football Index has led to members of Parliament calling for an inquiry and the leader of the House of Commons stating that the collapse was a matter of concern.

The questions surrounding Football Index could not have come at a worse time for the gambling industry as it is facing a government review of gambling legislation. Serious consideration is being given to the connection between gambling and sport and in future betting companies may no longer be permitted to be shirt sponsors for football teams.

For more information about Giambrone’s group litigation against Football Index please click here.