Gambling Commission suspends licence of Football Index

Gambling Commission has suspended the licence of Football Index after a restructuring last Friday was badly revied by customers.

Last Friday Football Index announced a “very difficult decision to reduce dividends in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform”. As a result the share prices of players plummeted, with some traders having claiming they lost their life savings.

The Gambling Commission said, “Football Index may not be suitable to carry on with licensed activities, we have made it clear to the operator that as the investigation progresses, we expect it to focus on treating consumers fairly and keeping them fully informed of any developments which impact them.”

n its statement on Thursday night, Football Index said the decision to suspend the platform had been made after consultation with “external legal and financial advisors, and the UK and Jersey Gambling Commissions”.

The statement went on: “The dividend restructure announced on Friday was a necessary step in a business recovery plan to seek the long-term sustainability of the platform. However, it is clear that this has not been well received and we need to find a more agreeable way forward.

“We are pursuing a restructuring arrangement to be agreed with our stakeholders including, most importantly, our community.

“We are preparing this through an administration with insolvency practitioners Begbies Traynor, to seek the best outcome for customers with the goal of continuing the platform in a restructured form.”