Some Premier League players have questioned the betting operators’ practice of using their personal statistics, wondering whether they have any rights over their performance datа. Such data is often used by gambling companies to educate gamblers or by online fantasy leagues to help gamers choose their teams.
According to reports, more than 400 former and current football players are set to file a group lawsuit over the use of their personal performance data. The players, many of whom are from the English Premier League (EPL), claim that the betting companies that use such statistics have not sought their permission to do so. That is why the players have together signed up for the “Project Red Card” that is to represent their lawsuit in court.
The Project Red Card is handled by Global Sports Data and Technology Group (GSDT), a company owned by the former manager of Cardiff City, Russell Slade, in collaboration with ELIAS Partnership. As explained by the director of ELIAS Partnership, Richard Dutton, the data in question is the performance data of football players, which is used by many betting and gaming companies to create games or make odds.
Mr Dutton further noted that the data used by gambling, gaming and betting companies are associated with personal performance, which makes it a tracking data that would help operators better understand different aspects of football games.
Betting Operators Have Not Asked Football Players for Consent before Selling Their Statistics to Third Parties
As explained by ELIAS Partnership, there is a major difference between football fans who watch games on TV or at a stadium and collect some data, and such data being compiled and used to help gamblers make better choices when betting. The idea is that every person is free to make their own research about a football player but things are very different when it comes to companies making research as they intend to sell that data to a third party.
Mr Dutton says that making money from using or selling players’ personal statistics is where the issue lies. He further explained that the argument of the football players’ group falls under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK’s Data Protection Act of 2018.
The director of the UK-based legal advisory firm engaged by the Project Red Card said that players’ data rights had been misused and what the group points out as an argument is the fact that those data rights had been unlawfully used because players had not been asked to give their consent.
Another issue that worries football players is that the personal statistics often can be inaccurate. Of course, football clubs are making efforts to guarantee that such data are not gathered and provided to anyone but there is no guarantee for that. Mr Dutton shared that the group and its legal advisors had found what he called a “staggering” inaccuracy of data, which could cause major problems for some players when they seek to get a job outside the UK.
- Author
Daniel Williams
