Manchester United star's likeness used to promote illegal gambling
Illegal gambling schemes continue to become increasingly elaborate in the current digital age, where everything and everyone is online, including the largest sections of both the regulated and unregulated elements of the gambling industry.
According to the Guardian, two of the latest examples of just how elaborate illegal online operators’ efforts can get are related to Manchester United’s captain and Portuguese midfield maestro Bruno Fernandes, as well as Real Madrid midfielder and England No. 10 Jude Bellingham.
Prominent footballers Fernandes and Bellingham used in false advertising for illegal gambling
Illegal operators know that online offers both the path of least resistance as well as the largest potential customer base, and they also know that, depending on where they themselves are based, it can be effectively impossible for legal consequences to meaningfully catch up to them.
As reported by the Guardian, online casinos Nightwin and QH88 “hijacked” the identities of Bellingham and Fernandes in order to present them as official partners of their brand when no such agreement was reached with the players. This was done by making use of falsified news articles and photographs, as well as AI-generated videos intended to mislead potential customers into believing that the footballers had genuinely endorsed the casinos.
It seems that, in Bellingham’s case, the casino utilised social media to buy up ad space and target users with misleading advertising. That said, the Guardian has reported that the gambling ads using Bellingham’s likeness seem to have been taken down and are no longer popping up.
The same cannot be said for Fernandes, whose likeness has reportedly been used by Vietnamese sportsbook and casino site QH88 as the focal point of an advertising campaign including a dedicated website and an AI-generated deepfake video where the Portuguese midfielder is shown signing a contract with QH88 at Manchester United’s iconic Old Trafford stadium.
Images used by the Vietnamese sportsbook even show Fernandes sporting Manchester United’s signature red home kit with QH88 branding on the front, which is typically a coveted advertising space reserved for a football club’s highest-paying sponsorship. No such deal exists between Fernandes’ current team and the casino in question.
Football’s reach and why illicit operators would want to capitalise on it
Few clubs have an international fanbase comparable to Manchester United, which is arguably the most popular English football club worldwide, having the most social media followers of any club based in the United Kingdom and generally only trailing Real Madrid and Barcelona globally.
With that in mind, as pointed out by the Guardian, it is rather easy to grasp why a sportsbook based in Vietnam would want to portray someone of Fernandes’ profile as its ambassador. Fernandes is the captain and star player of one of the biggest clubs in the world and was deemed the best player of the season in the most popular football league on the planet this season.
Furthermore, football is on everyone’s minds right now as the 2026 World Cup is currently underway, with the competition breaking numerous viewership and betting records. One could hardly think of a better time to capitalise on the massive interest such a major event generates, with the knockout stage now well underway and per-match viewership historically only getting higher the deeper the tournament bracket goes.
The regulated gambling industry has regularly expressed its growing concern over unlicensed operators and the growth of the illegal black market. In a recent example, a Maltese Member of the European Parliament expressed that an EU-wide ban on gambling ads may inadvertently push consumers towards the black market, who would not adhere to any restrictions.
With unlicensed operators not having to adhere to regulations and laws pertaining to player safety, taxation, and much more, it seems that unfettered use of influential figures’ likeness in tandem with the continuing development of AI technology, including AI deepfakes is an additional concern that needs to be combatted.
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