The champions of the English Premier League – Manchester City – officially unveiled their deal with the gambling operator 8Xbet in July but there are still questions associated with the identity of the company’s executives a few months after the club ended a sponsorship with another gambling company – 3key – that “did not exist”.
A sponsorship agreement with 8Xbet was announced in the middle of July. At the time, the marketing department of Manchester City revealed that the deal was expected to help the fanbase of the professional football club in Southeast Asia increase in number.
And while there was nothing so unusual about a sponsorship deal inked between a top-tier football club and a gambling operator, some curiosities around the company’s background emerged. After checking some information available freely on the Internet and links to social media accounts run in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), questions around the existence of some key figures for the company, including the founder and chief executive officer of the gambling operator emerged.
At the time when the partnership agreement was officially announced, the chief of marketing at Manchester City, Tom Boyle, explained that 8Xbet shared the club’s commitment to entertaining and providing excellent experiences to fans and customers. The club retained from disclosing any financial details but shared that the company was established in 2018 and explained that the International sports bookmaker is aimed at providing customers in the region with a unique and engaging experience and high-quality services.
However, a more in-depth approach and reports by Facebook, Twitter and Josimar have indicated that the administrator for the social media accounts of 8Xbet is situated in the United Arab Emirates, where Manchester City’s owners are from, rather than in Southeast Asia, which is the market that is being targeted by the company. Reportedly, the gambling operator’s social media accounts seem to be run by a Dubai-based marketing firm. So far, it has not been suggested that the EPL football club is involved in any way.
8Xbet Operates Under Curacao Licence Issued in 2021
A Manchester City spokesperson issued a response regarding a list of questions regarding the sponsorship agreement, saying that they should be directed to the Dubai marketing company – Qoo Global – whose website features pictures of some Manchester City players and Teddy Sheringham, the former England striker that has been the only ambassador of the gambling operator since March.
For the time being, the company does not seem to have any other clients, although a number of job adverts are published on its website.
Manchester City shared in a statement that it has worked in collaboration with relevant parties to activate some marketing assets in respective territories that would help it meet the business objectives of 8Xbet.
The English Premier League club also noted that it intended to continue to work with the gambling operator on a range of activations in the future. For now, there has not been much information about such activations, with social media presence being taken as a key performance indicator that the reach of the gambling operator is extremely small, especially in comparison to its market rivals.
Apart from that, the 8Xbet.com domain was still for sale at the end of 2021, although Manchester City shared that the company was established in 2018. The operator also had its gambling licence issued in Curacao in the first half of 2021. An investigation found that a website named 978bet was launched towards the end of 2021, and then rebranded to its current name in January 2022.
Owners of Manchester City’s Gambling Partner Remain Unknown
Reports say that a number of addresses allegedly affiliated with the operator are actually a mobile phone shop in Da Nang, a Marriott hotel situated in Ho Chi Minh Ville, and a shack in Da Can.
Having this in mind, some questions regarding the footprint of the company’s senior executives have also emerged. The gambling operator’s founder Ryan Li seems to not have any online presence. According to information that was provided by an unnamed source over e-mail, he is a private person who is willing to remain out of the spotlight for the time being. The source further shared that he has addressed directly Manchester City Football Group and verified his identity by presenting the required documentation.
There are also some curiosities associated with 8Xbet’s chief executive officer Trinh Thy Trang, who appears to have had a profile on LinkedIn, but the profile featured a picture that can be purchased from a Colorado-based company for about $45. According to the aforementioned unnamed source, this is a fake profile that is not actually linked to the CEO but there is no actual evidence that is the case. Currently, the profile is no longer live on LinkedIn.
As mentioned above, England’s striker Sheringham is currently the sole representative of the gambling operator, with his ambassadorial role involving the provision of regular videos published on a YouTube channel.
- Author
Olivia Cole
