FOOTBALL INDEX SCANDAL – PARLIAMENTARY PETITION FOR ANSWERS AND ACTION

The Football Index scandal has raised serious questions about the need for more robust gambling regulation in the UK, given the Gambling Commission saw fit to give this company a license and apparently failed to ensure adequate oversight.

Football Index operated as a football ‘stock market’, offering customers the ability to buy ‘shares’ in footballers and receive ‘dividends’ based on their performance. The company was admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2019 for creating the impression that the product was a lucrative investment opportunity, when in fact it was little more than a pyramid scheme.

The company has been forced into administration following the Gambling Commission’s suspension of its license, leaving consumers out of pocket to the tune of up to £100 million.

I have therefore petitioned the Parliament to call for a full independent public inquiry into this scandal to ensure that gambling regulation is fit for purpose in protecting consumers.