1. April 2, 2026: The Announcement by Gianni Infantino
Following the historic disruptions of 2015, FIFA claimed it had adopted fully transparent compliance policies. However, on April 2, 2026, Gianni Infantino made an international announcement that once again surprised sports journalists worldwide. FIFA officially declared ADI Predictstreet as its new “Official Prediction Market Partner” for the 2026 World Cup. FIFA’s official press release described the deal as a “landmark multi-year partnership” that proved “FIFA’s commitment to innovation and fan engagement.”
Yet, an investigative look behind the scenes quickly revealed a different reality. The core issue was that when FIFA announced this major agreement, ADI Predictstreet had no functional digital product, mobile application, or active platform. The noted Norwegian investigative football magazine, Josimar, began a series of detailed reports on this unusual setup, uncovering a string of startling facts.
Investigations showed that the company operated primarily as an offshore fintech venture. FIFA announced a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the firm just two weeks after it was established. Furthermore, the company secured its gambling license in Gibraltar for global betting and prediction markets only nine days after its incorporation. The Gibraltar Minister for Justice and Commerce noted the “record timing” in a press conference. Josimar’s investigation discovered that a director at ADI Predictstreet worked at a law firm with direct business and political ties to that same minister.
Thirty-six days after the partnership announcement, ADI Predictstreet’s official website displayed only a “Coming Soon” note. Active betting or prediction features remained entirely non-existent on their platform. Meanwhile, established international competitors like Polymarket and Kalshi were already processing millions of dollars in global predictions surrounding the 2026 World Cup.
2. The Controversial Figures Behind ADI Predictstreet
Josimar’s documented investigation detailed the profiles of the corporate figures managing the company, raising significant questions regarding standard international compliance:
Ajay Bhutia: The corporate representative who stood on stage alongside FIFA officials at the formal signing ceremony. Public media records show he previously resolved serious insider trading allegations through a six-figure out-of-court settlement, though Bhutia himself has maintained his innocence.
Dimitrios Sarakis: The newly appointed CEO of the company, who previously served as a close associate to a central figure in a well-known European Parliament lobbying scandal.
Colin Pirie: The Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) responsible for the platform’s financial oversight. While working for a previous employer in Gibraltar, Pirie served a two-year regulatory suspension due to significant anti-money laundering (AML) compliance failures.
As Josimar clarified in its coverage, these findings do not conclusively prove that ADI Predictstreet’s tournament product will fail or that FIFA violated specific laws. Instead, the situation raises serious institutional questions: What form of screening did FIFA’s integrity and due diligence teams conduct before selecting the official prediction partner for the world’s largest sporting event? Or did large sponsorship figures simply cause the organization to return to familiar habits?
3. The May and June Regulatory Crackdowns and the Kalshi Paradox
The problematic agreement between FIFA and ADI Predictstreet quickly attracted the attention of international gambling and financial regulators. In May, the French gambling authority, ANJ, issued two formal warning notices to the firm. Due to an insufficient corporate response, the regulator placed ADI Predictstreet on its official blacklist and blocked its services across France just before the tournament began. Josimar confirmed that two other European regulatory bodies took swift disciplinary measures under conditions of anonymity. The UK Gambling Commission issued no specific comment but reiterated its strict policy against unauthorized operators.
In June, the German regulator, GGL, opened a formal investigation into the company. Despite lacking a valid operating license in Germany, ADI Predictstreet advertisements and logos appeared prominently on live broadcasts and pitch-side billboards during the 2026 World Cup. Facing intense regulatory scrutiny, the company quickly implemented geo-blocking across 56 countries on June 3 and deleted its FAQ and policy pages to avoid deeper investigation.
This developed into one of the most unusual sponsorship events in modern World Cup history. Two weeks into the tournament, the American prediction platform Kalshi entered the picture. FIFA had originally offered Kalshi a massive $150 million sponsorship package before the tournament, which Kalshi rejected due to strict US compliance rules. However, mid-tournament, Kalshi established a back-door partnership with ADI Predictstreet, entering the World Cup as an official sponsor for just $20 million.
According to an investigative report by The Nation, standard FIFA sponsorship agreements generally range between $65 million and $100 million annually. A mid-tournament price drop of this scale, combined with an unauthorized operator serving as a gateway for another platform, introduces significant structural questions to international sports marketing.
4. The Play the Game Report and the Miami Team Shortage
These developments reflect broader systemic vulnerabilities within the sport rather than an isolated corporate issue. A recent research report by the international sports watchdog, Play the Game, noted that the expanded 48-team, 104-match format of this World Cup—combined with the growth of micro-betting and crypto-driven offshore platforms—has overwhelmed the monitoring capacity of FIFA’s integrity unit.
An international sports integrity expert interviewed by Play the Game described the unmonitored scale of these prediction markets as “catastrophic,” adding that it marked the highest level of concern regarding institutional betting vulnerabilities in their career. Analysts also explained that the sudden expansion of the tournament introduced less competitive teams, resulting in more “dead rubber” matches that naturally become prime targets for international betting syndicates.
FIFA was not entirely unaware of these operational risks and took several visible steps. In 2024, the organization moved its primary legal and integrity team from Zurich, Switzerland, to Miami, USA. However, during this geographic transition, a significant number of experienced staff resigned, reducing the department’s long-term investigative capabilities.
To address these gaps, FIFA partnered with the international data-monitoring firm IC360 in February 2026. This integrity task force utilized advanced software called ProhiBet to track unusual betting movements among players and match officials. Despite these corporate measures, the operational realities observed on the pitch presented a very different story.
***
Shaikh Rafiqul Islam (Rony)
Editor- ex1x.com