Who are the owners of 1xBet, with whom Barcelona does not want to terminate the sponsorship agreement?

Recent reports suggest that FC Barcelona will not terminate its sponsorship agreement with Russian company 1xBet. The company’s owners are facing serious allegations. What are the details of the activities of this betting company?

The contract with 1xBet provides that Barcelona will receive 8.7 million euros per year. However, this amount can increase up to €12 million if various sporting targets are met. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the club considered cancelling or suspending the agreement, which is valid from 2019 to 2024.

Due to the threat of millions in compensation and losses, it was decided not to do so. One of the reasons was that the company is based in Cyprus (although the main capital comes from Russia). Nevertheless, the issue will be discussed further in the Catalan capital.

1xBet not only sponsors the Blaugranas, but also works with Serie A, Brazilian teams or even sponsored the African Cup of Nations. The online gambling firm was founded in 2007 as a digital casino and seven years later entered the sports betting industry.

Operating in several countries under licenses granted to its subsidiaries. In Spain, it is Wagerfair, based in Valencia, where it reportedly has 400,000 registered users on its website. The owners of the company are Sergei Karshkin, Roman Semiochin and Dimitriy Kazorin.

Russians with Cypriot passports are wanted by Interpol. The first two have even been convicted of illegal gambling fraud in their homeland. Before the Barcelona deal, 1xBet worked with Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea. However, the deal was interrupted by local journalists who revealed that the company had been linked to promoting underage betting or unlimited deposits at an online casino.

The British government also refused to grant the company a licence because it was one of the main sponsors of illegal sports broadcasting platforms. It cannot operate in Russia either. The authorities there have also discovered through the aforementioned investigation that Karshkov, Semiochin and Kazorin are operating in the country through software from Gibraltar, for which they face six years in prison and confiscation of their assets.

Source: Twitter