BetIndex reveals plans to return Football Index funds

The administrators dealing with the collapse of the operator of Football Index has announced plans to allow it to return more funds to customers.

UK.- Begbies Traynor, the administrators overseeing the case of BetIndex, which went into administration in March, have said there are additional plans to return funds to customers.

It has devised a Creditors’ Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), which it said it would be able to share with creditors in the next few weeks.

The announcement may allow customers to receive funds invested in bets or which are owned in dividends on players. 

The High Court is to begin a hearing on Friday on the administration of BetIndex, which ran the self-styled football player trading platform Football Index.

Former Football Index customers are owed £3.2m, which was held in customer accounts at the time of the platform’s suspension.

The case was due to be heard by the Insolvency List but was moved to the High Court.

Football Index has announced that it will cancel all current unmatched bids by May 18 to prepare to pay out cash balances. The Football Index mobile app will be disabled from midnight on May 20 to allow repayments to be made. Players will have to log in via the website.

What is Football Index?

Football Index was billed as a “stock market of football”, allowing gamblers to buy “shares” in footballers and receive dividends based on their performance. Customers could trade shares with others for profit, paying a small commission to the Football Index platform.

The Advertising Standards Authority criticised Football Index in 2019 for “creating the impression the product was a lucrative investment opportunity”. 

Adam Cole, who founded Football Index in October 2015, stepped down as CEO in January and was replaced by Mike Bohan. 

Earlier this month the platform announced a reduction in the dividends it paid to customers for transactions. It announced it would enter administration several days later.

Users’ deposits are now trapped. Some customers claim they had more than £100,000 in open bets when the platform was taken offline.

Championship football teams Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers have dropped Football Index as their shirt sponsor and the UK government has announced an investigation into the platform’s collapse.