Atlético Madrid reportedly planning to sue crypto exchange WhaleFin
The Spanish football club Atlético Madrid is preparing to file a lawsuit against the Singaporean crypto exchange WhaleFin, per a news report.
According to Protos, the subject of the dispute is income relating to a sponsorship in the amount of $44 million, which the cryptocurrency exchange did not pay to the football club.
According to the source, Atlético Madrid signed a five-year contract with WhaleFin ahead of the 2022/23 season. Subsequently, the crypto exchange violated the terms of the agreement and refused to pony up the rest of the payment, club representatives now claim.
In Dec. 2022, the crypto exchange reported financial difficulties and terminated a $25 million sponsorship agreement with the English FC Chelsea. That event occurred seven months after the conclusion of the contract.
It’s not the Madrid football club’s first or only foray into crypto. Atlético Madrid has its own ATM fan token. However, it showed little reaction to news of the lawsuit. At the time of publication, it is trading at $2.61. The token is up 8% over the past month, according to CoinMarketCap.
According to Calcio Finanza, a similar situation occurred with Italian football clubs Inter and Roma. Previously, they entered into a contract with the blockchain company DigitalBits. It was later dropped as a sponsor when it refused to pay more than $17 million to Inter and approximately $11 million to Roma.