Croatian Football Federation Ties with Opaque Gambling Sponsor via Impersonation (bellingcat.com)

• Sponsorship deal involves an offshore bookmaker with opaque ownership
• The firm's representative was identified as a European academic using a pseudonym
• Transparency concerns regarding financial oversight in national sports federations

"The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has entered a sponsorship agreement with an opaque bookmaker targeting Asian markets. Investigative reporting reveals that the individual representing the gambling firm utilized a fake identity; in reality, the person is a European academic. This discovery highlights significant transparency failures in the sponsorship vetting processes of national football bodies. The arrangement, finalized ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, underscores the risks associated with betting industry capital flows into European sports governance and the lack of robust oversight regarding the ultimate beneficial ownership of such entities."