Freeze of £10m Premier League funds over probe into fantasy football cards

More than £10m of Premier League funds will remain frozen amid an international criminal investigation into its former fantasy football game partner.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Luxembourg authorities are investigating crypto-gaming firm, Sorare.com, which had a licence deal to release digital cards of Premier League players as part of its free-to-play online fantasy football game.

The cards could be bought from the Sorare platform through an auction or an instant buy feature via credit card or cryptocurrency.

They can then be re-sold to other customers with the seller setting the price, and a 'scarcity' level set by the platform each season.

The nature of these trades raised questions over whether it constituted a form of gambling and an investigation was launched by the Gambling Commission in 2021, then the NCA first froze the funds in 2025.

An order was handed down by a court last January to freeze £10,024,041.33 plus accrued interest held in the Premier League's bank account.

A further four-month freeze was granted at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, after a request from the NCA - it had been due to expire the following Monday.

Sorare still owes the Premier League £7.5m for the 2025 to 2026 season, the court also heard.

District Judge Sam Goozee said the freezing of the accounts was "necessary and proportionate" to prevent the dissipation of funds and enable a proper investigation.

He found no suggestion that the league "themselves engaged in unlawful conduct", and said it had expected Sorare to act lawfully within the terms of the licence agreement.

Premier League was aware in October 2021 that the Gambling Commission was carrying out inquiries into Sorare, after the commission published a press release on its website.

It was looking into whether the French-based company's services qualified as gambling, and if it therefore needed an operating licence.

As a result, the Premier League held a meeting with Sorare and acquired a summary of the legal opinion the company had received.

In January 2023, Premier League bosses announced a £120 million four-year deal with the company, that would see Sorare become the Premier League's official licensee of Fantasy Football NFT - or non-fungible tokens.

It said the firm's digital player cards would give fans "a new way to feel closer to the Premier League whether they are watching in the stadium or from around the world".

About a year-and-a-half later, Sorare told the Premier League that it had been charged with three offences by the Gambling Commission.

The company has pleaded not guilty to the charges of providing unlicensed gambling activities to British consumers and a trial is scheduled for June 2027.

After learning of the charges, in July 2024 Premier League started to move Sorare funds into a ring-fenced account and direct future payments there too.

In December that year, the league made an "authorised disclosure" to the UK Financial Intelligence Unit.

Representing the NCA, Andrew Bird KC told a hearing on Monday that the Premier League "did the right things" including voluntarily ring-fencing the funds and making a suspicious activity report.

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The judge told Friday's hearing: "I find on the NCA evidence that Sorare's activities have continued in Great Britain since the date of the charges.

"The Premier League continued to receive funds into the account until June 2025."

The further £7.5m owed has been outstanding for more than a year, the court heard.

No lawsuit has been brought by the Premier League, but it has made demands for the funds, it was told.

The league was ordered to pay the NCA £20,187.10 in costs.

(c) Sky News 2026: Freeze of £10m Premier League funds over probe into fantasy football cards