Why does Fulham covet cash over caution when it comes to sponsorship?

In the modern game, there seems to be a sponsor for everything. Official hydration partner; official wet wipe supplier. There’s something for every company, as long as they’re willing to stump up the cash.

With no club football for two weeks, Fulham made the questionable call of revealing what’s proving to be an equally questionable commercial deal. It’s linked up with little-known firm IUX as it’s – you guessed it – CFD (contract for difference) trading partner. Because we all need one, don’t we?

It was quickly revealed by investigative journalist Martin Calladine that not only does this company offer morally dubious and highly risky financial products (the facility to lose up to 3,000x your investment), but all the people on LinkedIn who claim to work for IUX in the US and UK actually don’t exist. It even had its Trust Pilot reviews deleted due to fake entries. There’s now evidence that suggests the company may have breached UK financial regulations, too.

This comes less than a year after the club terminated its deal with its previous CFD partner, Titan Capital Markets, amid concerns over its legitimacy as a company and the revelation that it employed actors to pose as employees. It all sounds depressingly familiar, doesn’t it?

Many fans will read this and sigh. “What does it matter? Just focus on football”. But, much as with the argument “keep politics out of sport”, we can’t – it’s all bound together.

I don’t expect my football club – or anyone I encounter in life – to never put a foot wrong. But I’d like it to demonstrate basic common sense from time to time, and not show that it’s willing to ignore due diligence when pursuing a business deal just to earn a quick six-figure sum.

This story hasn’t yet played out, and we could yet see another humiliating climb down from the club. At which point you have to ask: was it all worth it?

If and when I need a CFD trading company, I’m happy to just Google one.