How did a computer science academic and reality TV show contestant from Zagreb end up representing illegal sports-betting operator Z6 when it signed a sponsorship agreement with the Croatia national football team?
A joint investigation by Philippe Auclair of Josimar, with the open source outlet Bellingcat.
Asian-facing illegal sports betting operators love, just love a "signing ceremony". For the uninitiated, these events are organised to mark the start of a partnership between a football club, league or federation and a bookmaker. They almost always follow a similar pattern. A video crew is dispatched to the home ground of the club or national team in question. Executives supposedly representing the operator and its new partner are filmed entering the stadium. Archive footage of the team's past exploits is cut into the slow-mo pictures of the said "executives" heading for the rostrum. Other attendees, when there are any, are shown receiving lanyards from the hands of female attendants before sitting down for the "press conference" at which executives sing each other's praises before signing a document purporting to be the contract between the new partners. Current or former players sometimes make a cameo appearance to lend some sparkle to the proceedings. If none are available, a few extras wearing branded shirts are sent to the pitch to be filmed doing keepy-uppies and kicking a football into the empty net.
All of this is for show, staged in order to convince would-be gamblers that the bookmaker concerned is legitimate and that its partnership with team X is genuine.
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