The UK Gambling Commission issued a notice about the fantasy football game Sorare, saying that the platform is not licensed by the Commission.
“The Gambling Commission is currently carrying out enquiries into the company to establish whether Sorare.com requires an operating license or whether the services it provides do not constitute gambling.”
The timing of this statement is rather bizarre because Sorare is massively popular and it has been available in the UK since around 2019.
Fans were quite unhappy with UKGC’s resolve to act against Sorare as they still don’t trust the regulator because of the Football Index situation. The Football Index was Britain’s licensed sports betting platform. In its eventual collapse customers lost roughly £80 million.
Sorare is being investigated by a U.K. regulator 🇬🇧
The football platform isn’t licensed by the Gambling Commission, but officials are examining whether it should be ⚽️
Sorare says it’s confident it ‘does not offer any forms of regulated gambling’ 🚨https://t.co/PYVsqIDocP
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) October 12, 2021
The statement was not without pushback from Sorare, as a spokesperson for the NFT platform insisted it had done no wrong.
“We are very confident Sorare does not offer any forms of regulated gambling,” the spokesperson said.
Sorare added: “We will always engage and have an open dialogue with authorities who reach out to us to learn more about our game. We believe this is the responsible way to grow our game and community globally.”
Your favourite league has just landed on @SorareHQ ⚽ Collect, trade & play with #NFT items of your favourite #Bundesliga players!🔥
Claim your first 10 free items! #Sorare pic.twitter.com/MFNgzV9rhe
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) October 21, 2021
Top former and present footballers Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann, and Gerard Pique are investors in Sorare’s NFT-powerd platform, which raised $680m last month.
The blockchain fantasy football platform recently inked a deal with both divisions of the Bundesliga – Germany’s domestic football league.
The deal with Germany’s top division came after Sorare’s deal with La Liga, with NFT trading cards of players from Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid in September.
Sorare plans to build partnerships with all 20 football leagues across the globe by the end of 2022.
