Football Index: Gambling platform suspended as company enters administration
Football Index has suspended trading
(PA)Football Index has announced it has suspended its gambling platform in light of the recent extreme market crash with the company entering administration.
The company, which has marketed itself as a stock market for footballers, has confirmed that no trading or payment transactions, including deposits and withdrawals, will be permitted until further notice.
The board of BetIndex Limited acknowledged their decision last Friday to slash dividend payments had “not been well received” and that they needed “to find a more agreeable way forward”, with the current situation “deeply regrettable”.
READ MORE: ‘My life savings up in smoke’: Fans left irate after Football Index share prices crash
A shirt sponsor for Championship clubs Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest, who announced today that they are “in dialogue” following the company’s market collapse.
The gambling platform, which resembles a stock exchange but is licensed by the Gambling Commission, has now confirmed operations have been suspended.
A statement from the company’s board read: “We understand this has been a difficult and challenging week for you all. After much difficult deliberation we must now issue the following update.
READ MORE: Football Index: What is it? What’s gone wrong and what will happen next?
“The Board of BetIndex Limited has consulted with external legal and financial advisors, and the UK and Jersey Gambling Commissions. The decision has been made to suspend the platform.”
The company has confirmed its intent to pursue a “restructuring arrangement” with the possibility of “equity in BetIndex Limited being distributed to customers”.
Moreover, “board representation for customers” and the promise of “new management team” was mentioned in the statement with trading suspended until that has been achieved.
Despite last week’s announcement, which saw the shares of most players fall by up to 80 per cent, the company has continued to post updates on payouts.
Though responses have been turned off, with the company claiming in light of the announcement that employees had received abuse.
New rules for dividends payouts, which were due to come in on 4 April, would see customers’ earning potential on each player fall by up to 82 per cent, with the maximum payout per day set at 6p, down from the existing 33p.
