Sporting Lisbon, a Portuguese soccer club, and Spezia, an Italian football team, announced on Thursday that they have cancelled their sponsorship deals with Bitci, a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange.
Lisbon, which signed a sponsorship agreement with Bitci in September, stated that it made such a decision because Bitci failed to make the expected payments. Lisbon admitted that it had made a ‘strategic disalignment’, and has removed all Bitci branding from its website, stadium and jerseys.
Meanwhile, Spezia has not disclosed the reason behind its move.
The actions by Lisbon and Spezia come just a few weeks after McLaren, Formula 1 motor racing team, announced the termination of its commercial agreement with Bitci, without specifying a reason. In March last year, McLaren and Bitci announced a multi-year collaboration with each other. Bitci was named as the official partner and fan token partner of McLaren. The crypto firm was expected to release a fan token on the exchange as part of the deal.
In addition, reports have emerged that Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves), an English Premier League team, is reevaluating its partnership with the Turkish exchange. In June last year, Wolves formed an agreement with Bitci, but so far, the exchange has not implemented the deal.
Focus on Serving International Customers
Established in 2018, Bitci is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Turkey. The company operates a mining facility, a trading platform , and a digital assets wallet. Moreover, the exchange provides fan tokens in partnerships with major sports brands. The firm has its own proof of Authority (PoA) blockchain and crypto coin called ‘Bitcicoin’. Furthermore, it claims to be a registered National Crypto Exchange with Fiat integration to National Banks. Last month, the exchange revealed plans for global expansion beyond its native country, Turkey. In late January, Onur Altan Tan, the CEO of Bitci, disclosed that the firm aims to open a trading platform in Brazil this month with plans to launch another one in Spain next month.
