A fan of Norwich City F.C. has shared that he was left literally on the brink of suicide after losing more than £98,000 at the time when the online gambling platform Football Index collapsed.
The 27-year-old player, who works in the sales division at an engineering company and specifically asked for anonymity, joined Football Index’s gambling platform back in 2018 after he saw it advertised on sports channels. Initially, he invested a total of £3,000 in the platform but in the months prior to the collapse of the company into administration he was spending thousands of pounds on a monthly basis, especially after learning that the company was granted an operating permit by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
He could now lose the entire amount he deposited in the online gambling firm – an overall of £98,032.
The player shared that the unfortunate events with the company falling into administration had fully torn his life apart, leaving him without his life savings and on the verge of taking his life.
He also noted that his family supported him through the tough times after the collapse of Football Index but he found it hard to explain to them what exactly had happened. The player highlighted the fact that he lost the aforementioned amount not because of reckless spending of money he had not got and explained that betting with Football Index involved a different kind of betting over a longer period of time.
UKGC and FCA Blamed for Turning a Blind Eye on Warnings about Football Index’s Business Model
The young player’s case has been taken up by Clive Lewis, a Norwich South Member of Parliament, who has addressed ministers, urging them to make things right for the tens of thousands of British customers who had been failed not only by the online gambling platform but also by the competent authorities.
As Casino Guardian previously reported, the online betting platform offered a so-called football stock market in which customers were provided with the opportunity to purchase and trade “shares” in top professional footballers and get dividends in line with the football players’ performances on the pitch. However, the glamorous collapse experienced by Football Index left its customers facing massive losses. According to reports, no less than £90 million of customers’ stakes were left trapped in the platform.
In September, an independent review of the regulation of the collapsed Football Index online gambling platform was published. The review heavily criticised both the UK Gambling Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for their actions and attitude allowing such an operator to offer its services in the UK regulated gambling market. Furthermore, it was found that the main gambling regulatory body in the UK had been warned about potential flaws in the business model of Football Index that could put customers’ money at risk but the watchdog turned a blind eye on the warnings.
As previously reported, the liquidation of BetIndex, the parent company of Football Index, basically means that customers will get back only a small amount of the funds they had on the online gambling platform.
The CEO of the UKGC, Andrew Rhodes, explained that the gambling regulatory body had already acted on a number of recommendations included in the report. He further noted that the actions of the gambling watchdog had always been focused on trying to ensure maximum protection to consumers while at the same time seeking to bring the gambling company into compliance with the country’s regulations.
- Author
Daniel Williams
