Football Index to Severely Cut Dividends

Football Index, the online betting site compared to a “football stock exchange” has announced it will cut dividends from Monday 5th April, and customers have reacted furiously as the value of players portfolios plummet.

The announcement to cut dividends was made on Friday 5th March, which then crashed the market on Saturday with players now unable to sell their shares without suffering large losses. As an example, Jadon Sancho saw his value drop around 90% since the announcement.

Football Index responded to the market crash and frustration with a statement claiming Football Index has “sustained substantial losses over recent months, and the board agreed on a recovery plan aimed at stemming these loses”. However, it became clear that the plan would not stem the losses which then lead to the massive dividend cut announcement.

If you didn’t know, Football Index offers players a chance to buy and sell “shares” in football players, with dividends paid according to their performances. Before the announcement, players could get up to 14p but the dividends are set to be reduced to a maximum of 3p but 1p or 2p in most cases.

Some users are sharing screenshots of their portfolios with players potentially losing hundreds of thousands since the market crash. Now, players have come together and there is a petition on Change.org asking for the UKGC to investigate Football Index to see if they have complied with the UK gambling regulations. At the time of writing, the petition has over 10,000 signatures.

Steven Hubbard