Red Flags Galore as $100 Million Sponsor Rings Trouble for Alfa Romeo

Formula 1 has always made headlines for its problematic sponsorships over the past decades, causing the teams to drop them mid-season and struggle financially. It was previously common among tobacco companies, but the case has now shifted to crypto companies, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo being the latest ones to sign one of them as its title sponsor.

The case of rise and fall of the crypto companies have been quick. Several companies, such as Velas, and FTX, sponsored deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars but have now fallen short for several reasons. And as the “crypto winter” continues, the uncertainty around crypto persists. Among all of this, Alfa Romeo has found a new industry sponsor in the form of Stake, after Orlen moved to AlphaTauri.

The new title sponsor for Alfa Romeo will now be Stake, an online casino that has signed a $100 million deal over three years. But the skepticism hasn’t just been here because of the company; it is more because of the lack of the word “crypto” in the company’s 446-word-long press release, as reported by Planet F1.

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The company has had Drake, Premier League football clubs, and UFC fighters take its money. However, it is embroiled in a $400 million lawsuit, which raises a big red flag. The case has been filed by a former friend of the current two owners of the company, bringing an eclipse over the new sponsor of Alfa Romeo.

What is the issue with the Alfa Romeo’s sponsor?

Stake is officially registered and licensed in Curacao, which puts it outside Australia’s money-laundering laws. However, the company is based in Melbourne and has employees listed as working in Australia.

Stake’s founders, Edward Craven and Bijan Tehrani, are being sued for $400 million by a former associate, Christopher Freeman, who claims he was misled into not participating in the company’s formation. Freeman alleges that he had a 20% stake in their previous company, Primedice, but was misled about the nature of Stake.com and was eventually blocked from accessing the Primedice account.

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This revelation raised red flags among anti-gambling advocates in the country. The lawsuit against Stake.com brings attention to the company’s operations and its potential exploitation of legal loopholes to operate in the market. If the judgment is ruled against the website, the repercussions might be felt across the entire grid, but most importantly, through the garages of Alfa Romeo.