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UK Freezes $13.6M in Premier League Funds Tied to Sorare Sponsorship

The UK's National Crime Agency has frozen over £13.6 million from a Premier League bank account as part of an investigation into the crypto fantasy sports company Sorare. The funds were an initial payment from a four-year sponsorship deal, and Sorare separately faces a gambling prosecution.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 1h ago

Funds Frozen in Sorare Investigation

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen more than £13.6 million ($13.6 million) held in a bank account belonging to the Premier League, according to a report from The Sun. The money was an opening payment from Sorare, a crypto-based fantasy soccer card game, under a four-year sponsorship deal announced in January 2023. Decrypt reported that the funds sat in a Barclays account in the name of The Football Association Premier League Limited, and that the freezing order was obtained from Westminster magistrates' court in January 2025 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

An NCA spokesperson said the order was intended "to prevent dissipation of the funds while the NCA investigates any potential links between those funds and alleged third-party criminality." The Premier League has declined to comment, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the league, according to Decrypt. The league was due in court on Monday to seek a variation of the order, which runs until September 14.

Background of the Sponsorship and Investigation

The NCA's investigation relates to Sorare's operations, which have attracted scrutiny over alleged unlicensed gambling. The Sunday report from The Sun said the NCA was examining claims that Sorare provided gambling facilities without a license. Sorare separately faces a prosecution by the Gambling Commission for allegedly running a gambling operation without an operating licence, with a trial listed for June 2027, as reported by Decrypt.

Sorare entered three not-guilty pleas at Birmingham magistrates' court in October 2024. The company has said it "firmly" denies that its product is gambling under UK law, maintaining that the game rewards skill rather than chance.

The sponsorship deal, reportedly valued at around $163 million over four years, gave Sorare rights to issue digital cards of players from all 20 Premier League clubs, with clubs paid according to card usage. The arrangement ended after the 2025-26 season, according to Decrypt. Neither side has publicly disclosed the full value, which Sorare said was withheld for contractual reasons.

Regulatory Context

The freezing order comes amid broader regulatory attention to crypto-related sponsorship in UK football. In June, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sent letters to Premier League clubs warning about "questionable sponsorship deals" with companies not authorised to operate in the country, including those involved with crypto. Cointelegraph reported that some clubs continue to hold such sponsorships, citing stablecoin issuer Circle's deal with Chelsea and exchange OKX's deal with Manchester City.

The number of sponsorship deals between crypto companies and sports teams globally has reportedly declined since 2022, following market downturns and concerns over public ties to the industry, Cointelegraph noted.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Cointelegraph

Framing: Highlights the amount frozen and the Premier League sponsorship connection

as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC

Facts Included:

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has reportedly frozen 10 million pounds, or about $13.5 million
The NCA was conducting a probe into Sorare over claims of unlicensed gambling
Sorare signed a four-year, $162-million partnership deal with the Premier League in 2023, which was terminated at the end of last season
The NCA froze $13.5 million in cash following a January 2025 order from the Westminster magistrates’ court
A spokesperson said the order was intended 'to prevent dissipation of the funds while the NCA investigates any potential links between those funds and alleged third-party criminality'
In June, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned about 'questionable sponsorship deals' with companies not authorized to operate in the country
Stablecoin issuer Circle has a sponsorship deal with Chelsea
OKX exchange has a sponsorship deal with Manchester City

Read the source article →

Decrypt

Framing: Announces the NCA's freezing of Premier League funds in connection with a Sorare investigation.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC

Facts Included:

The UK's National Crime Agency has frozen more than £13.6 million ($13.6 million) sitting in a bank account belonging to the Premier League.
The money was the first payment from Sorare under a four-year sponsorship announced in January 2023, according to The Sun.
The freezing order was obtained from Westminster magistrates' court in January 2025 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The funds were held in a Barclays account in the name of The Football Association Premier League Limited.
A spokesperson said the purpose is 'to prevent dissipation of the funds while the NCA investigates any potential links between those funds and alleged third-party criminality.'
Sorare faces a Gambling Commission prosecution for allegedly providing facilities for gambling without an operating licence, with trial listed for June 2027.
Sorare entered three not-guilty pleas at Birmingham magistrates' court in October 2024.
Sorare said it 'firmly' denies that it is a gambling product under UK law.
The company says the game rewards skill instead of chance.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen about 10 million pounds ($13.5 million) as part of an investigation into online sports company Sorare.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC, Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe UK's National Crime Agency has frozen more than $13.6 million (£10,024,041.33) held in a bank account belonging to the Premier League under the Proceeds of Crime Act.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe NCA was conducting a probe into Sorare over claims of unlicensed gambling.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC
ClaimSorare signed a four-year $162-million partnership deal with the Premier League in 2023.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe Premier League terminated its sponsorship deal with Sorare at the end of last season.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe NCA froze the funds following a January 2025 order from the Westminster magistrates' court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC, Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimA spokesperson said the freezing order was intended 'to prevent dissipation of the funds while the NCA investigates any potential links between those funds and alleged third-party criminality.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC, Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe funds were held in a Barclays account in the name of The Football Association Premier League Limited.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe money was the first payment from Sorare under a four-year sponsorship announced in January 2023, according to The Sun.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimSorare faces a Gambling Commission prosecution for allegedly providing facilities for gambling without an operating licence, with trial listed for June 2027.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimSorare entered three not-guilty pleas at Birmingham magistrates' court in October 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimSorare said it 'firmly' denies that it is a gambling product under UK law.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimThe company says the game rewards skill instead of chance.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Decrypt as of Sep 1, 2026, 11:17 AM UTC
ClaimIn June, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned about 'questionable sponsorship deals' with companies not authorized to operate in the country.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC
ClaimStablecoin issuer Circle has a sponsorship deal with Chelsea.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC
ClaimOKX exchange has a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Cointelegraph as of Sep 1, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Cointelegraph, Decrypt 16 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01