When Football meets NFTs

10

October

2025

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In recent years, NFTs, also known as non-fungible tokens, have taken the digital world by storm. Simply put, an NFT is a one-of-a-kind digital asset that proves ownership of something unique, like an image, video, or collectible. In football, they’ve been promoted as a new way for fans to connect with players, buy digital player cards, or access special experiences (Sorare, n.d.).

But as exciting as it sounds, not every project is as trustworthy as it appears. A recent case in Spain shows how easily an emerging technology like this can turn into controversy.

According to PANews, authorities in Barcelona are currently investigating a cryptocurrency fraud case involving several well-known football players. The company Shirtum allegedly scammed investors out of about $3.4 million through an NFT project that never delivered what it promised. Some big names were tied to the project: Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, Ivan Rakitic, Javier Saviola, Nico Pareja and Alberto Moreno. Prosecutors claim that Shirtum operated through a complicated business structure to avoid paying taxes. The players reportedly helped promote the NFTs as “founders.” These tokens were meant to represent the players’ image rights, but investigators say they never gained any real trading function. After the promotion, related posts on social media disappeared and the company later claimed it had been hacked without filing a police report. Soon after, Shirtum shut down completely without any explanation (Binance, 2025).

As someone who enjoys watching football, I believe NFTs have the potential to make the sport more interactive if used responsibly. Unfortunately, scandals like Shirtum’s make fans lose trust. For NFTs to succeed in sports, transparency should come first. Football players and clubs need to ensure that what they promote is legitimate and provides genuine benefits. In the end, NFTs should be about strengthening fan communities, not taking advantage of the loyalty and passion of fans.


Sources:

Binance. (2025, June 11). Barcelona court investigates cryptocurrency fraud involving football players. Binance. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/06-11-2025-barcelona-court-investigates-cryptocurrency-fraud-involving-football-players-25461462914385

Sorare. (n.d.). https://sorare.com/football

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From Data Analytics to Results on the Pitch

5

October

2020

5/5 (1) On football shows such as Match of the Day, well-known pundits commonly let their sentiments be heard on the recent performances of certain players and clubs. After all, who doesn’t love to tune in on Jamie Carragher and Phil Neville arguing over Manchester United’s loss of form? While much of what is said about a player’s performance is an opinion, these accusations as well as glorifications are almost always supported by data, presented in the form of statistics. It is no surprise that data collected on a player’s total distance covered, shot conversion, and pass completion may be used to bolster these arguments, as this has been common throughout the past decade.

Recently, however, the value of data within the context of football has significantly risen, due to developments in deep learning and predictive analytics (Murray & Lacome, 2019). Adapted training sessions, player recruitment, and analysis of the opponent’s playing style are all ways in which clubs’ staff can improve their decision making by leveraging data.

Although from a fan’s perspective most of the football action takes place on game day, according to Murray and Lacome (2019), professional players train at least five days a week. Data is constantly collected on a variety of player metrics, such as running distance and number of accelerations, as well as force load distribution. Trackers that collect this data help prepare the intensity of certain drills. Analyzing the force load distribution, for example, allows coaches to examine which of a player’s muscle groups are weak, and therefore critical decisions can be made leading up to the day of the match.

Furthermore, data collected on a team and its opponents have proven to provide valuable insights. According to Burn-Murdoch (2018), football’s “analytics era” began in 2006, when London-based Opta Sports recorded the time and location of every pass, shot, tackle, and dribble. Today, about 2,000 data points are collected per match (Burn-Murdoch, 2018). This development in data collection has progressed to the point where Premier League shows such as Match of the Day now present viewers with the number of goals they can expect that weekend.

However, arguably the most impressive development in data-driven football, has come from sports scientists that have developed algorithms that predict the likeliness of certain in-game player decisions (Burn-Murdoch, 2018). As shown by the depiction below, machine learning programs are now able to determine player movements and the amount of space a player consequently creates by their positioning on the pitch. This technique, referred to as “ghosting”, has as a result uncovered an otherwise difficult-to-uncover aspect of a player’s skill set, namely creating space, which is an invaluable asset when considering buying a player.

Considering the impact data analytics has already had in the football world within the last decade, who knows which new technological developments will occur in the near future and how they will shape the way decisions are made!

References:

Murray, E. and Lacome, M., 2019. What Difference Can Data Make To A Football Team?. [online] Exasol. Available at: <https://www.exasol.com/en/what-difference-can-data-make-for-a-football-team/> [Accessed 5 October 2020].

Burn-Murdoch, J., 2018. How Data Analysis Helps Football Clubs Make Better Signings. [online] Financial Times. Available at: <https://www.ft.com/content/84aa8b5e-c1a9-11e8-84cd-9e601db069b8> [Accessed 5 October 2020].

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