Twenty-four hours after Josimar revealed that Fifa’s new “prediction market” partner Adi Predictstreet was run by a man accused of insider trading, the Abu Dhabi firm appointed a CEO linked to ‘Qatargate’, one of the biggest lobbying scandals in the history of the EU Parliament.
By Martin Calladine, additional reporting by Philippe Auclair and Sam Kunti
It was a scandal that rocked the European parliament, the highest-decision making body on the continent, and is still working its way through the Belgian courts. Just days before host nation Qatar kicked off the 2022 World Cup against Ecuador, Eva Kaili, a vice president of the European Parliament and member of the Greek socialist party Pasok, was arrested by Belgian authorities on preliminary charges of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation. Kaili and relatives were found in possession of over €1m in cash. Prosecutors pointed to Qatar: the Gulf nation allegedly wanted influence in the heart of Europe’s democracy and expected Kaili to defend the country’s human rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Kaili has always maintained her innocence. She claimed the modus operandi was parliamentary diplomacy backed by private NGO funding.
In the spiralling investigation – which included allegations that Morocco and Mauritania had bribed some parliamentarians and targeted others – Dimitrios Psarrakis’s name got somewhat lost.
A Greek economist by background, he had worked for Kaili for eight years and, in 2021, the pair wrote and published the book ‘disintermediation economics’ which addressed the potential economic impact of crypto.
The Brussels Council
Together, just two months before Kaili’s arrest, they also set up the Brussels Council for Technological Innovation and Global Development, a lobbying firm with an emphasis on fintech and crypto. The organisation’s third founder, a former McKinsey’s executive called Jacques Bughin, had recently been arrested and “charged for criminal conspiracy, misuse of corporate assets and embezzlement of public funds” in a separate financial scandal.
Shortly after the first set of arrests, Kaili and other MEPs became the suspects in a second investigation for the allegedly fraudulent use of funds designed to pay their assistants. Dimitrios Psarrakis was reportedly under investigation as part of the probe. In 2024, the European Parliament voted to lift Kaili’s parliamentary immunity in this case, alleging that Kaili had used parliamentary funds to pay four assistants for no-show jobs.
In the days following Kaili’s December 2022 arrest, Psarrakis took to social media to voice his surprise at the accusations against Kaili. He also insisted that he had nothing to do with the scandal and cast doubt over Kaili’s alleged involvement. Yet, despite having co-founded the Brussels Council with her only months earlier, he also claimed they had not worked together for several years.
With Kaili’s disgrace casting a shadow over the Brussels Council, Psarrakis and Bughin then formed ValueVerse, a crypto consultancy. Their new enterprise, it seemed, was short-lived, although Psarrakis spoke at a crypto conference in Dubai in 2024 as a representative of ValueVerse
Bar the book, Psarrakis, the new CEO of Fifa’s newest commercial partner ADI Predictstreet, has omitted his dealings with Kaili from his CV. His Linkedin page shows him working at the European Parliament from June 2014 till May 2021. It’s followed by a three-year gap before he becomes a board member of the Washington-based Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) and a fellow at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He did not seem to have had a full-time job until Tuesday when he was unveiled by Predictstreet and described his appointment as “possibly […] the coolest project of my life”..
Failed Launch
Psarrakis is likely to have a demanding first week: the company’s product – a prediction markets service built on a bespoke crypto infrastructure – was scheduled to launch at lunchtime today, Thursday, 9th April. But at the time of writing, 90 minutes after the launch, Predictstreet’s website, bar a landing page, was not functional. Yet, Fifa’s new partner had lured fans and would-be gamblers with the ultimate gimmick: the chance to win World Cup tickets as a sign of appreciation for signing up early. Those with early access, however, were left disappointed on Thursday afternoon.
In a sign-up e-mail, Adi Predictstreet promised: “Early users like you will have a head start, from unlocking rewards to helping shape the experience. FROM DAY ONE.”
“We’ ll be distributing limited tickets exclusively to users through upcoming activities and engagement on the platform.”
“Over the coming weeks, you’ll get early access to the platform, and start earning rewards through your participation on the platform.”
Instead, the countdown clock simply vanished, and the platform offered no markets and no bets. Rivals Polymarket and Kalshi offer thousands of markets at any time.
Prediction markets, which are particularly popular in the United States, are betting operators in all but name and are prohibited in most European countries. Predictstreet currently only holds an offshore gambling licence obtained from the Gibraltar regulator. This means they cannot legally accept customers in other jurisdictions, which begs the question of why Fifa would associate themselves with a company which is illegal in most of the 211 countries which compose the organisation – a question which Fifa did not answer when it was put to them by Josimar.
What role, if any, Ajay Bhatia, Psarrakis’ predecessor and now his boss, will have in Predictstreet going forward remains unclear. Last week, Bhatia was photographed with Fifa President Gianni Infantino at the partnership’s launch, but questions were immediately raised about his suitability for running a prediction markets company after Josimar revealed that, in 2025, he had paid £130,000 GBP to India’s Security & Exchange Board (SEBI) to settle allegations of insider trading.
The SEBI had alleged that, in 2022, Bhatia made trades worth over £700,000 GBP based on inside information of a forthcoming $2bn investment by a part of the IHC, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company which is majority owned by the Emirate’s royal family. Bhatia’s settlement offer, which included a six-month ban from trading Indian securities, came without “either admitting nor denying the findings of fact and conclusions of law.” It did not represent a criminal conviction.
While Psarrakis has not been charged or convicted in connection with Qatargate or any other scandal, Josimar asked Fifa and Predictstreet if his proximity to such a serious football-related corruption case raised further questions about the company’s suitability to be a World Cup partner.
Fifa did not reply to Josimar’s questions.
Adi Predictstreet offered the following statement: “Dimitrios served as Economic and Monetary Policy Specialist at the European Parliament from 2014 to 2021. In this capacity, he co-drafted most of the Digital Finance Regulations of the EU. He collaborated with MP Eva Kaili until 2021, prior to her arrest. Dimitrios has never been charged with any wrongdoing. Today, he remains a globally recognized blockchain expert and a speaker at top-tier universities, international organizations (such as the European Parliament and the World Economic Forum), as well as professional summits on FinTech, RegTech, Blockchain and the Digital Disruption of Banking and Financial Services around the globe. Additionally, he retains board and academic roles Global Blockchain Business Council and The Wharton School.“
