Spanish Football (Soccer) Is Suffering A “Crypto Hangover”, A New reports has claimed – several La Liga clubs have been left with an “experience of omission, complaint and forgetfulness” after partnerships with crypto sponsors turned sour.
Celta Vigo is the latest club to run into trouble with a sponsor in the crypto sector. The club partnered with Turkish crypto exchange Bitsy in 2021.
But in a press release published on Twitter earlier this week, Celta claimed the exchange “has not made any payments” since the deal went through.
Celta wrote that it “has been forced to demand bitcoin on several occasions to meet its payment obligations.”
Club wrote that Bitsy “limited himself to offering various promises of payment, which he never fulfilled.”
The club said it had “decided to initiate legal action” in order to “request full compliance with what the parties have agreed upon.”
The club concluded that it was making “the greatest effort” to resolve an “unpleasant situation” which had been “in particular by Bitsy”.
But Celta’s case is not an isolated incident. Xataka The report said Bitsy had requested payment delays from several of its other Spanish partners – including Celta rivals Valencia as well as Barcelona-based La Liga side Espanyol.
Espanyol said they were trying to take Bitsy to court over fees owed last year.
Which other Spanish football clubs are suffering from a ‘crypto hangover’?
Xakata pointed out that Bitci claims it has the “solvency” to pay its bills to Spanish clubs. But he reportedly says a recently introduced Turkish law has tied his hands.
The same crypto platform also has sponsorship deals with Cádiz, Alavés and Real Betis. It also entered into an agreement with the Royal Spanish Football Federation – whose logo was printed on the training uniforms of the Spanish national team.
But Bitkey is not the only crypto platform to have had a rocky ride with La Liga teams.
zakat It also reported that last year, Real Sociedad’s main shirt sponsor, a fan token issuer named Iconic, folded. At the time of Iconic’s liquidation, Sociedad owed $875,000 in unpaid sponsorship fees.
Earlier this month, two top-level Brazilian footballers announced his intention to sue fellow pro sportsr, claiming that he had convinced them to invest in a crypto pyramid scheme.