UK Gambling Commission charges Sorare with unlicensed gambling

After what has been described as an investigation lasting three years, the UK Gambling Commission has charged soccer NFT game Sorare with providing unlicensed gambling facilities in the UK.

“Sorare is charged with providing facilities for gambling without holding an operating licence contrary to section 33(1), (4), and section 36(3), (3A) of the Gambling Act 2005,” it states on its website.

The hearing will take place at 10am on Thursday 4th October at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.

“We firmly deny any claims that Sorare is a gambling product under U.K. laws,” a Sorare spokesperson was reported as stating.

“The Commission has misunderstood our business and wrongly determined that gambling laws apply to Sorare.”

The case will be significant in that fact that Sorare users buy soccer player NFTs and then put together teams whose performance is based on those players’ real-world performance. Users can then win rewards such as NFTs, ETH, kits and match tickets based on their team’s performance.

Sorare’s lawyers will likely argue that it is a skill-based game — not a game of chance — in which a range of rewards are provided over a period of time — not immediately.