Mysterious Betting Site Becomes Embroiled in Man City Scandal

It’s par for the course these days for Premier League clubs to have ‘Asian betting partners’; it’s a useful source of revenue at a time when the UK gambling industry has been banned from front-of-shirt sponsorships.

One of the most prolific companies in this regard is 8Xbet, a somewhat controversial firm that has partnered with the likes of Newcastle United and Chelsea.

They are also the Asian betting partner of Manchester City, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that they are amongst the ‘sham’ contracts that the club used to dodge financial fair play rules.

The Cityzens have now been found guilty of nearly all the 115 charges held against them, and now face one of the most significant legal battles in sporting history.

Investigations Into 8Xbet

When your supposed company co-founder uses a fake image on their LinkedIn profile, you can only expect alarm bells to start ringing.

But that was just one of many controversies that arose when Man City and 8Xbet revealed their commercial partnership back in 2022.

It turns out that Trinh Thu Trang, named as the 8Xbet CEO, had used a stock photo of a model known only as Jasmine for her official profile and on her LinkedIn page. Does Trinh Thu Trang even exist?

Red Flags?

Numerous investigators, including the Daily Mail’s Nick Harris and Josimar Football, have delved deeper into the world of 8Xbet. Each uncovered red flags and inconsistencies.

Harris discovered an online trail that took him to Dubai-based marketing firm QOO Global, who were tasked with answering his questions about 8Xbet.

Josimar, meanwhile, have claimed that 8Xbet had links to a Cambodian slave trade network and had targeted punters in countries in which gambling is a criminal offence. Their investigations revealed that an address affiliated with the betting firm was actually a mobile phone shop in Vietnam.

A separate report published in The Mirror revealed that 8Xbet’s social media accounts were being run from the UAE – where the Abu Dhabi United Group, who sanctioned the purchase of Manchester City, is based.

Man City Charges

The Premier League has confirmed that an Independent Commission has found Man City guilty of ‘serious breaches of financial rules’ for nearly a decade.

In amongst the commission’s most damning findings are that senior officials at City created ‘sham’ contracts, in which the amounts paid into the club were, allegedly, inflated in a bid to help the club adhere to financial rules.

The allegations also accuse Man City of filing ‘misstated’ accounts, while concealing the true state of their finances from auditors and regulators. In a separate statement, the Premier League also alleges that ‘a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence.’

City now have the right to appeal, with October 2 set as the deadline. Club insiders have revealed that they will fight all of the charges in an attempt to clear their name.

Man City x 8Xbet Link?

One of the key revelations is that City’s owners allegedly faked how much money the club made in sponsorship fees – more than £300 million, recorded between 2011 and 2018, was illegitimate.

Officials either inflated the amount being paid into the club’s coffers, or simply ‘invented’ shell companies and fronts that the owners could pass their own money through – which places a question mark over 8Xbet and their checkered history.

It should be noted that 8Xbet is a legitimate betting operator in the Asian market. Their co-founder, Ryan Li, is still involved in the company and heralded the firm’s commercial tie-in with Newcastle United back in January.

They have not been named specifically in the investigation into Manchester City’s alleged financial irregularities.