Phil Foden is from Manchester City.
Simon Stacpoole is an offside player.
The risks for pro sports teams are highlighted by the fact that Manchester City pulled back from its partnership with 3Key.
The football club, which won the UK's premier league last season, decided to suspend its deal with 3Key after questions arose about a lack of information about the company.
On Monday last week, Manchester City and 3Key announced a deal to make the DeFi trading analysis and advisory platform an official regional partner of the team.
The club said in a statement that it was excited to partner with 3Key in their journey to simplify the Defi trading analysis user experience through the power of football to engage with our fans with a range of content and activations.
It wasn't clear which region was involved, and investigations by a crowd of internet sleuths failed to find a location or significant online presence for 3Key, the Guardian reported last week. Two of the company's websites went offline on Tuesday, but one has since been restored.
The report said that a search for some executives named in the press release did not find any digital footprints for them or Ryan S Hodder, 3Key's chief marketing officer.
The English football club got cold feet about the deal after reading the reports, according to a statement posted to the social networking site.
The partnership between Manchester City and 3Key Technologies has been suspended pending satisfactory resolution to all of the inquiries, it said.
The deal with 3Key had been announced, but not activated, and the contender said it "conducts due diligence" for all of its partnerships. The club didn't respond to the request for comment.
Manchester City is not the only one to be cautious. FC Barcelona had a marketing deal with Ownix, a marketplace for non-fungible token. Barcelona fans were able to buy items related to the teams history.
The Spanish soccer giant said that it hadnixed the partnership because of information that goes against the club's values. It didn't reply to a request for comment.
The Associated Press reported that the move came after Ownix-linked businessman Moshe Hogeg was arrested for fraud. The Times of Israel was told by his lawyers that he denied all allegations against him.
Ownix denied it had anything to do with these matters in a post on Friday, and said it was ending its consulting agreement with Hogeg.
As regulators and businesses crack down on advertising in the digital space, cash-rich companies are turning to professional sports teams for sponsorship and marketing deals.
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Business Insider has an original article.
