UK Financial Regulator Warns Football Clubs on Risky Crypto Sponsorships

The United Kingdom's financial regulator has warned football clubs, including those in the Premier League, to avoid sponsorship deals with unauthorized financial companies amid concerns that fans are being pushed toward risky crypto and trading platforms with no protections.

In a Wednesday press release, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said several unauthorized firms, including crypto businesses and online trading platforms, are using football sponsorships to target “unwitting” supporters.

It warned that such firms may be breaching UK financial services law by operating without authorization and that fans using them “risk losing all their money.”

The intervention puts scrutiny on the clubs themselves. The FCA said that it had written directly to football clubs, telling teams that sponsorship deals with unauthorized financial firms not only endanger fans but could also expose clubs to legal liability, money laundering risks, and serious reputational damage if they fail to carry out adequate checks on partners.

The warning comes as crypto and trading brands have expanded their presence across top-flight football, giving retail-facing platforms prominent exposure through club sponsorships as the FCA steps up enforcement of its financial promotions rules.

Related: UK FCA seeks feedback on guidance for crypto rules ahead of 2027 rollout

The regulator expects every UK club to conduct proper, ongoing due diligence on financial services sponsors and said it will take action where concerns have already been identified.

Rise in crypto football sponsorship deals

The FCA’s warning comes amid a rapid influx of crypto and trading brands into football, including crypto group LAK3 Company, which sponsored Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2024-25 season, which appears on the FCA’s Warning List of unauthorized firms.

LAK3 Company appears on the FCA's warning list. Source: FCA

BingX and OKX, which have partnered with Chelsea and Manchester City, are not on the FCA’s Warning List, but the Financial Times reported that they do not appear on the FCA register of authorized firms.

Their deals have given prominent shirt and stadium exposure to retail-facing trading platforms, as the regulator has been clamping down on high-risk promotions.

The FCA did not respond to a request for comment by publication. In its notice, however, the regulator stressed that any firm not authorized in the UK can only promote financial products or services to consumers if its adverts are signed off by an authorized firm under the financial promotions regime.

A spokesperson from BingX told Cointelegraph that the company has “registered or obtained the applicable regulatory approvals to operate in countries where it provides its services.”

Crypto marketing firmly under FCA oversight

The FCA already brought crypto marketing under its financial promotions regime in October 2023, issuing 146 alerts in the first 24 hours alone and launching its first enforcement action against global exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) in February 2026 for allegedly illegal crypto promotions to UK consumers.

Its latest move makes clear that football sponsorships are now firmly in scope for the FCA’s crypto marketing rules. The watchdog said it is working with the government, the Premier League and the incoming Independent Football Regulator to tackle the issue across the sport.

The crackdown also follows a separate warning by the Gambling Commission over gambling adverts on children’s replica kits at four Premier League clubs, Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle, and Wolves, highlighting growing regulatory unease about how high-risk products are sold through football.

Cointelegraph reached out to Chelsea and Manchester City, as well as OKX, and LAK3 Company, for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.