Fan group ‘appalled’ by Uefa deal with cryptocurrency company

theguardian.com:

Uefa has been accused of exposing supporters to “crypto-mercenaries” after becoming the latest football organisation to sign a deal with the fan token company Socios.com.

The European governing body has agreed a licensing and sponsorship arrangement with Socios.com, which produces tokens for 53 football clubs across the world, including Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa.

Fan tokens allow supporters to vote on certain matters decided by a club and to enter competitions. They must be bought, using Socios.com’s cryptocurrency Chiliz, and can be traded on cryptocurrency markets.

Football Supporters Europe was highly critical of the three-year agreement. “We are appalled by Uefa’s decision to team up with Socios, a company that monetises fan engagement at the expense of match-going fans,” it said in a statement. “This is an incomprehensible move at a time when football needs protection from crypto-mercenaries.”

FSE, who receive funding from Uefa, continued: “Uefa’s partnership with Socios legitimises risky investments in highly volatile and largely unregulated financial assets.”

Another respected fan organisation, SD Europe, was also critical of the deal, which it said came in “stark contrast” to Uefa’s decision on Monday to give 30,000 free tickets to match-going fans for the finals of this year’s continental club competitions.

“Meaningful fan engagement should be democratic, inclusive and transparent via formal mechanisms such as supporter involvement in governance structures, share ownership, voting rights and representative supporter groups,” SD Europe said.

Uefa was approached by the Guardian for comment. In a press release its marketing director, Guy-Laurent Epstein, said: “We are always