Nigel Huddleston has said it would not be ‘appropriate’ to use public funds
Government minister Nigel Huddleston has said that it would not be “appropriate” for public funds to be used to compensate former users of Football Index, which collapsed last year.
Football Index was an online gambling platform which allowed ‘investors’ to place bets on footballers and ‘dividends’ were paid out based on performances which saw their value increase along with their ‘share price’ if they were playing well.
But the platform collapsed in March 2021, leaving thousands of customers with substantial financial losses, with an estimated £120m worth of these shares disappearing after the crash.
Thousands of customers were left with significant financial losses
Before their collapse, Football Index had become a prominent figure in the footballing world and even went on to sponsor the shirts of Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers. Both clubs would later terminate their deals with the platform in light of the collapse.
Last year Ethan* told JOE that he had been left in a dark place in the aftermath of Football Index’s collapse and was one of those who suffered significant losses.
“My net deposits were about £50,000,” he said. “I’d built up enough for a deposit on a house, but that’s gone now. All gone.”
The UK gambling committee were criticised for failing to act on warnings about the business practices of BetIndex Limited, the company who traded as Football Index following the news of its collapse.
In April 2021 a review into the firm’s activities was launched, with the full report being published in September of last year, producing damning results and leading to customers wondering if they would receive compensation.
‘We do not think it would be appropriate for the Government to use public funds’
But comments from Huddleston at a special parliamentary debate on ‘impact of the collapse of Football Index’ on Tuesday gave the impression that it would be unlikely those affected would be compensated.
While the MP shared his sympathy with those affected – many of them local constituents who had gotten in contact with him personally – he doesn’t feel it is right that public money is spent on aiding those who have suffered.
“With regard to compensation, as I have said, there are procedures that we cannot move from,” he said. “It is also very clear that we strongly sympathise – everybody strongly sympathises.
“As a constituency MP, I also have constituents who have been impacted by the collapse and who have lost money. We have heard today anger and frustration about the genuine hardship – both financial and, of course, mental – caused by the collapse.
“However, we do not think it would be appropriate for the Government to use public funds to cover losses to individuals resulting from the collapse of a gambling company. Consumers staking money on gambling is not the same as their placing money into other things, such as savings products.
“Furthermore, the Gambling Commission does not have any statutory powers that would enable it to offer redress for losses suffered as the result of a gambling operator collapsing.”
* Name protected
Related links:
- Gambling Commission criticised in review into Football Index collapse
- Football Index issue statement on distribution of money owed to investors
- Football Index Collapse – “I’ve lost thousands, even the kids’ savings have gone”
