French soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG) has filed a bankruptcy claim against gambling sponsor Cbet in Curaçao.
PSG signed a deal for Cbet, a crypto casino, to be the club’s official Latin American gambling partner in December 2022. While the deal has now expired, Cbet maintains on its social media and website that it is still a partner with the French team.
The claim, which was filed against Cbet’s parent company, AK Global NV, will be heard on January 22 in the Curaçao Joint Court of Justice.
Cbet has faced issues in many jurisdictions in which it operates, receiving a series of fines in several territories. The most severe of these was a €5m ($5.24m) fine issued by the Spanish gaming regulator, which the company neglected to pay.
Bankruptcy proceedings then came to light in the press, and due to ongoing reforms in Curaçao over gambling licenses which required all operators to re-apply under new rules, Cbet no longer has a license and does not list one on its website.
The news will add more fuel to the fire in an ongoing row about the licensing system in Curaçao, which was last week accused of being a vehicle for fraud, corruption, and money laundering by a local opposition politician.
The move follows a similar case involving gambling operator and Leicester City sponsor BC.Game, which was forced to close its UK-facing site and was given notice of an imminent withdrawal of its gambling license.
