According to recent reports, Spanish soccer is experiencing a “crypto hangover,” with several La Liga teams experiencing “defaults, complaints, and an experience to forget” as a result of failed sponsorship deals with cryptocurrencies.
Celta Vigo is the most recent team to experience issues with a sponsor from the cryptocurrency industry. In 2021, the group joined forces with the Bitci cryptocurrency exchange in Turkey.
Yet, Celta said in a news statement sent on Twitter earlier this week that the exchange “had not made any payments” since the agreement was reached.
According to Celta, “on several instances, we have been obliged to require Bitci to meet its financial responsibilities.”
Bitci had “restricted itself to giving numerous promises of payment, which it has never delivered,” the club claimed in a statement.
In order to “seek the complete compliance of what the parties agreed,” the club said it has “decided to commence legal action.”
The club came to the conclusion that it was “putting forth the maximum efforts” to resolve an “unpleasant situation” that was “exclusively created by Bitci.”
But, Celta’s condition is not an uncommon one. According to Xataka, Bitci has asked several of its other Spanish partners for payment delays, including the Celta rivals Valencia and the Barcelona-based La Liga team Espanyol.
According to Espanyol, Bitci was sued last year for unpaid fees.
According to Xakata, Bitci stated that it has the “solvency” to satisfy its obligations to Spanish clubs. Yet, it allegedly claims that recently passed Turkish law has restricted its ability to act.
Cádiz, Alavés, and Real Betis have sponsorship agreements with the same cryptocurrency platform. Also, it signed a deal with the Royal Spanish Football Association to have its emblem printed on the practice uniforms of the Spanish national team.
Yet, Bitci is not the only cryptocurrency platform that has had trouble working with La Liga teams.
Also, according to Xakata, Iqoniq, the company that issued fan tokens for Real Sociedad’s primary shirt sponsor, filed for bankruptcy last year. At the time of its collapse, Iqoniq owed Sociedad $875,000 in outstanding sponsorship payments.
Two elite Brazilian footballers stated earlier this month that they planned to sue a fellow professional player for allegedly persuading them to engage in a cryptocurrency pyramid scam.