The High Court of England and Wales will hold a hearing to reveal how Football Index’s funds will be split from its player protection fund next week.
Football Index has over £4 million in this account, though the majority is already owed for the money in players’ accounts on the platform.
The platform, owned by BetIndex, entered administration in March. Some players lost significant sums of money as a result.
The hearing dates
A hearing will take place to decide how funds are to be allocated between 19th May and 21st May 2021 at the High Court of England and Wales in London.
As part of the hearing, administrators will look to decide on the cut-off point for owing money to customers. They will either choose 26th March, when BetIndex went into administration, 11th March, when the platform was suspended, or a later date.
H&J Director Services 1 Limited is representing people who want a later date than 26th March as the cut-off stage. Customers calling for a later date are waiting for the operator to pay out large sums.
BetIndex announced plans to pay back players earlier in May, which prompted the case getting raised to the High Court.
How much money is in the BetIndex player protection account?
There is currently £4.5 million in the company’s player protection account. However, BetIndex owes £3.2 million for money held in players’ accounts – leaving £1.3 million left over.
The reason for setting a cut-off is that without one, BetIndex would run out of funds.
This date has a lot riding on it. It will determine which customers are owed money, along with how much they get. A later date would mean that players with active bets would have the right to receiving more money than would otherwise be the case.
BetIndex’s collapse: the story so far
BetIndex entered administration towards the end of March. When this happened, its shirt sponsorships with Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers subsequently ended.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) came under significant scrutiny after the collapse for not acting earlier. Since then, the Commission has defended its approach. It said that if it had chosen to suspend BetIndex’s operating licence earlier, the financial implications would’ve been even more damaging for the company.
A national inquiry has launched into the operator’s collapse to find out what went wrong, and what lessons can be learned going forward.
