FCA Warns Football Clubs on Unauthorised Crypto Sponsorship Deals

The FCA's October 2023 financial promotions regime overhaul made one thing brutally clear: approving or communicating a crypto promotion for an unauthorised firm is itself a criminal offence under section 25 of FSMA 2000. Yet shirt-front deals, stadium naming rights, and pitch-side LED board contracts with unregistered crypto exchanges keep surfacing. The regulator has now placed football clubs squarely in its sights, warning that commercial partnerships with firms not on the FCA's Cryptoasset Register expose clubs, their directors, and their marketing agencies to enforcement action.

TL;DR

• Entering a sponsorship deal with an unauthorised crypto firm can make the club a conduit for illegal financial promotions under FSMA 2000 s.21.
• The FCA's Cryptoasset Register is the single source of truth; if the firm isn't on it, the deal is almost certainly non-compliant.
• Clubs face criminal liability, reputational damage, and potential disgorgement of sponsorship revenue.
• Due diligence on a crypto sponsor must go beyond Companies House — it requires active FCA Register checks and legal sign-off on every promotional asset.
• The FCA has already issued public warnings against multiple crypto firms that previously held or sought sports sponsorships in the UK.

What This Regulation Actually Requires

The Financial Promotions Restriction (FSMA 2000, s.21)

Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 prohibits any person from communicating a financial promotion unless that person is either FCA-authorised or the promotion has been approved by an FCA-authorised person. Cryptoassets that qualify as "qualifying cryptoassets" — broadly, fungible, transferable tokens that aren't e-money or security tokens — were brought within this regime on 8 October 2023 under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023.

A football club that places a crypto exchange's logo on its kit, publishes a co-branded social media post, or runs a stadium announcement for an unregistered firm is communicating a financial promotion. Full stop.

The Cryptoasset Register Requirement

Separately, firms carrying on cryptoasset business in the UK must be registered with the FCA under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs), as amended. The FCA maintains a public Cryptoasset Register. Firms that applied but failed assessment sit on the "Refused" or "Withdrawn" list. Firms that never applied are simply absent.

Operating without registration is a criminal offence. Facilitating or promoting such a firm's services compounds the exposure.

The Approver Regime

Since 7 February 2024, only FCA-authorised firms with specific permission to approve financial promotions can sign off on crypto promotions for third parties. This closed a loophole where any authorised firm could approve promotions outside its core competence. A club's own solicitors or accountants cannot approve a crypto promotion unless they hold that specific FCA permission.

What "Communicating" Means in a Sponsorship Context

The FCA's guidance is deliberately broad. Communicating includes:

• Shirt and training kit branding visible in broadcast or photography
• Stadium naming rights and associated signage
• Club website partner pages and banner advertising
• Social media posts by the club's official accounts
• Press releases announcing the partnership
• Player appearances at crypto firm events where the club facilitates the arrangement

Each touchpoint is a separate communication. A single sponsorship contract can generate hundreds of individual regulatory events.

What This Means for Your Company

For football clubs and their boards: Directors can face personal criminal liability under s.400 FSMA 2000 if an offence is committed with their consent or connivance. "We didn't know they were unregistered" is a weak defence when the FCA Register is publicly searchable and the regulator has explicitly warned the sector. Clubs in the Championship, League One, and League Two are not exempt — the FCA's remit is not limited to Premier League partners.

For crypto firms seeking UK sports deals: If you're not on the FCA Cryptoasset Register, you cannot lawfully run a UK-facing sponsorship that involves any promotional communication. Attempting to structure around this — for example, by routing the deal through an overseas entity while targeting UK consumers — triggers the overseas persons exemption analysis under s.21(3) FSMA, which is narrow and frequently misapplied.

For sports marketing agencies: Agencies that negotiate, draft, or execute sponsorship agreements are not insulated from liability simply because they act as intermediaries. If an agency communicates a promotion on behalf of an unauthorised firm, it faces the same s.21 exposure as the club.

For legal counsel: The due diligence standard has shifted. A boilerplate "regulatory warranties" clause in a sponsorship agreement is no longer sufficient. Counsel must conduct active Register checks, review the scope of any approver's FCA permissions, and advise on the promotional asset approval chain before execution.

How to Operationalize

Pre-contract due diligence checklist:

1. Search the FCA Cryptoasset Register at the time of initial negotiations — not just at signing. Register status can change.
2. Confirm the firm's registration number and cross-reference it against the FCA's Warning List of unauthorised firms.
3. Obtain a written legal opinion confirming the firm's regulatory status and the basis on which it can lawfully promote its services in the UK.
4. Identify who will approve each category of financial promotion (social media, broadcast, print, digital). Confirm that approver holds FCA permission to approve qualifying cryptoasset promotions.
5. Build a promotional asset approval workflow into the contract: no asset goes live without written sign-off from the approved approver.
6. Insert a termination right triggered by any change in the sponsor's FCA registration status, with a cure period of no more than 14 days.
7. Require the sponsor to notify the club within 48 hours of any FCA correspondence, investigation, or warning notice.
8. Conduct a repeat Register check at each contract anniversary and before any major campaign launch.

Ongoing compliance steps:

• Assign a named compliance contact at the club responsible for monitoring the sponsor's Register status quarterly.
• Log every promotional communication with a timestamp and the approver's sign-off reference.
• Train commercial and marketing staff on the s.21 restriction — not just legal and compliance teams.
• Review existing sponsorship agreements against the October 2023 regime change; legacy contracts may not contain adequate protections.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Treating FCA registration as a one-time check. Firms can be removed from the Register mid-contract. The FCA has cancelled registrations with relatively short notice. A check at signing that isn't repeated is a check that provides diminishing protection over time. Fix: calendar quarterly Register searches and document them.

Mistake 2: Assuming an overseas crypto firm is exempt. A firm incorporated in the Cayman Islands or Seychelles that targets UK consumers through a UK club's audience is not automatically exempt from the financial promotions regime. The s.21 restriction applies to communications capable of having an effect in the UK. Fix: get a specific legal opinion on the overseas persons exemption before proceeding, not a generic "they're offshore" assumption.

Mistake 3: Relying on the sponsor's own legal warranties. Sponsorship agreements routinely include warranties that the sponsor complies with applicable law. These are useful for damages claims after the fact. They do not prevent the club from committing a criminal offence in the meantime. Fix: independent verification, not contractual reliance.

Mistake 4: Ignoring player and ambassador contracts. A club's shirt sponsor deal may be clean, but individual player ambassador agreements with the same crypto firm create separate promotional communications. If a player posts about the firm on personal social media as part of a club-facilitated arrangement, the club may be the communicator. Fix: extend the due diligence and approval workflow to player commercial agreements.

Mistake 5: Treating the FCA Warning List as exhaustive. The FCA's Warning List identifies firms the FCA has specifically flagged. Absence from the Warning List does not mean a firm is authorised. Many unregistered firms simply haven't attracted FCA attention yet. Fix: the Register check is the positive confirmation; the Warning List is a supplementary red flag tool, not a substitute.

FAQ

Q: Can a football club lawfully partner with a crypto firm that is registered with the FCA?

Yes, provided the firm's registration covers the relevant cryptoasset activities and the promotional communications are approved by an FCA-authorised person with the specific permission to approve qualifying cryptoasset promotions. Registration alone doesn't make every promotion automatically compliant — the approval chain still matters.

Q: What's the criminal penalty for communicating an unauthorised financial promotion?

Under s.25 FSMA 2000, the maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Corporate liability attaches to the club as a legal entity; personal liability attaches to directors and senior managers who consented to or connived in the offence.

Q: Does the regime apply to free-to-enter fan competitions run by a crypto sponsor?

Potentially yes, if the competition is structured in a way that promotes the sponsor's cryptoasset services. The FCA's financial promotions guidance looks at the overall impression of a communication, not just its stated purpose. A competition that drives app downloads or account registrations for a crypto exchange is likely a financial promotion.

Q: What should a club do if it discovers mid-contract that its crypto sponsor has been removed from the FCA Register?

Stop all promotional communications immediately. Take legal advice on the club's obligations and exposure. Exercise any contractual termination right. Notify the FCA proactively — voluntary disclosure is a recognised mitigating factor in enforcement decisions. Do not wait for the sponsor to resolve its regulatory position before acting.

Q: Are lower-league clubs at lower risk because they have smaller audiences?

No. The s.21 restriction applies regardless of audience size. The FCA's enforcement priorities may focus on higher-profile cases, but the legal exposure is identical. Smaller clubs may also have less sophisticated legal and compliance resource, which increases the practical risk of non-compliance going undetected until it's too late.

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Sources

• Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, ss.21, 25, 400 — UK Parliament
• Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023 — UK Statutory Instruments
• FCA, "Cryptoasset businesses: registration" — FCA.org.uk
• FCA, "Finalised Guidance FG23/2: Guidance on Cryptoasset Financial Promotions" — FCA.org.uk

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Disclaimer

This article is produced by BizLegal-AI Intelligence Desk for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client or attorney-client relationship. The regulatory landscape described reflects publicly available information as of the date of publication and may have changed. Readers should obtain independent legal advice tailored to their specific circumstances before taking or refraining from any action. BizLegal-AI makes no representations as to the completeness or accuracy of this content and accepts no liability for reliance on it.