TLDR
- The UK’s National Crime Agency froze $13.6 million held in a Premier League bank account under the Proceeds of Crime Act
- The money was the first payment from Sorare, a crypto fantasy soccer card game, under a reported $163 million sponsorship deal
- Sorare faces a separate Gambling Commission prosecution for allegedly running gambling without a licence
- The Premier League has no wrongdoing alleged against it and is seeking to vary the freeze order in court
- The Financial Conduct Authority has also warned Premier League clubs about deals with unauthorised crypto firms
The UK’s National Crime Agency has frozen $13.6 million sitting in a Premier League bank account. The money came from Sorare, a crypto fantasy soccer card game backed by investors including Lionel Messi.
The National Crime Agency obtained the freeze order from Westminster magistrates’ court in January 2025. It used the Proceeds of Crime Act to hold funds in a Barclays account belonging to The Football Association Premier League Limited.
🚨ALERT: The UK's National Crime Agency has FROZEN $13.6 MILLION in the Premier League's own bank account over a crypto deal.
The money was the first payment from a $163 MILLION sponsorship with Sorare, a Messi-backed crypto fantasy card game once valued at $4.3 BILLION.
Sorare… pic.twitter.com/ynDdh3hYil
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) September 2, 2026
The agency said the order is there “to prevent dissipation of the funds while the NCA investigates any potential links between those funds and alleged third-party criminality.”
There is no suggestion the Premier League did anything wrong. The league declined to comment on the report, which first appeared in UK newspaper The Sun.
The frozen $13.6 million was the first payment under a four-year sponsorship deal announced in January 2023. The deal was reported to be worth around $41 million per year, totalling $163 million over its term.
Under the arrangement, Sorare could issue digital player cards for all 20 Premier League clubs. Clubs were paid based on how often their cards were used. The deal ran through the 2025-26 season.
Sorare Pushes Back
Sorare disputed some of the Sun’s reporting. A spokesperson told Decrypt the company is “not under investigation by the UK National Crime Agency.” They also said the frozen account does not belong to Sorare.
Sorare also confirmed its Premier League contract expired at the end of its term and was not ended because of any investigation.
Gambling Charges Still Pending
Sorare faces a separate legal case brought by the UK Gambling Commission. The regulator charged Sorare in September 2024 with providing gambling facilities without an operating licence under the Gambling Act 2005.
It was the first time the Gambling Commission had taken action against a blockchain-based platform. Sorare entered three not-guilty pleas at Birmingham magistrates’ court in October 2024.
The trial was originally set for June 2026 but has been pushed back to June 2027.
Sorare says it “firmly” denies being a gambling product under UK law and will defend its position.
The Financial Conduct Authority has also stepped in. In June 2026, it wrote to Premier League clubs warning that sponsorship deals with unauthorised crypto firms could break financial services laws and put fans at risk.
The FCA’s director of consumer investments said clubs “should not let unauthorised financial firms exploit that loyalty by putting potentially dodgy products in front of millions of fans.”
Sorare was founded in 2018 and was last valued at $4.3 billion following a SoftBank-led funding round in 2021.
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