Although they did not play any role in sales or the operation strategy, footballers are targeted by the complaint.
As El PeriDico explains and quoted by Marca, the leaders of the company Shirtum Europa are notably accused of fraud. They intended to sell for 3 million euros of NFT and cryptocurrencies, but then stopped production before Shirtum put them on the market.
The six players accused of fraud in this case are Ivan Rakitic, Javier Saviola, Nico Pareja, Alejandro “Papu” Gomez, Lucas Ocampos and Alberto Moreno. The players would have played an active role in the sale of tokens, and Gomez would have notably maintained close links with one of the four brains behind these operations, David Rozencwaig.
Gomez and Rakitic are both accused of embezzlement
Rozencwaig, alongside Manel Angel Torras, Marc Alberto Torras and Manuel Morillas, had created an application to sell NFT of the six footballers and had to sell them for € 450 each. They then received investments from outdoor donors – those behind the complaint – but Shirtum closed the application before it was put online. Neither the blockchain cryptocurrency nor the NFT never had any value.
The rise of cryptocurrencies in Spanish football
The presence of cryptocurrencies and NFT has increased in recent years. After the Liga prohibited Paris companies from sponsoring the jerseys of professional teams, several teams have concluded partnerships with teams like Valencia. Meanwhile, Barcelona launched its own NFT and sold 24.95 % of Barca Vision to Socios, an important blockchain company, for an amount of 100 million euros. However, Barcelona has since been forced to seek new buyers for these actions, socios refusing to pay the sum.
