Arsenal FC is reprimanded by regulator for advertisements for Fan Tokens

Arsenal FC, one of the UK’s top football clubs, was reprimanded by the country’s advertising regulator for “irresponsible” and “misleading” promotion of its Fan Token.

According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the ads were irresponsible – because they “minimized” investments in cryptoactives.

Arsenal’s Fan Tokens were launched on July 12 this year, in partnership with Socios.com, issuer of the Chiliz (CHZ) token.

This warning from the regulator is important because more and more clubs, in Brazil and around the world, are launching their supporter tokens.

The most recent case in Brazil was Sport Club Internacional, which launched your fan token also in partnership with Socios.

Fan tokens allow your buyers to participate in the clubs’ internal decisions on certain issues. The more tokens a supporter has, the heavier their vote.

By contrast, for clubs, fan tokens mainly provide extra income.

Controversy with Arsenal Fan Tokens

On the Arsenal project, ASA criticized two ads in particular. One on Facebook and another on the club’s website.

The Facebook post, which appeared on Aug. 12, said fans in possession of the $AFC token could vote on the song the club would play if they win.

However, according to ASA, both announcements were irresponsible because they trivialize investment in cryptoactives. Furthermore, the advertisements did not inform about the investment risk.

The Facebook post was misleading, according to the agency, as it did not clarify that the tokens needed to be purchased using cryptocurrencies.

In turn, Arsenal said that tokens differ from cryptocurrencies, which are a means of payment.

That’s because they were designed just for entertainment and to encourage fan participation. The club also denied that the ads were aimed at investing in cryptocurrencies.

The popularity of cryptocurrencies has been drawing the attention of the ASA. Earlier this month, for example, the regulator censored ads from crypto companies, including Coinbase and eToro.

But, it seems, the ASA reprimand did not impact the price of Arsenal’s fan token. At the time of writing, the token is priced at $3.45, having appreciated about 3% in the past 24 hours.