iGaming operators Nightwin and QH88 have been accused of misrepresenting professional football players Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) as official partners of their brands through fake BBC articles and AI-generated videos, according to The Guardian.
According to the report, Nightwin purchased Instagram ads for a fake BBC article announcing Bellingham's launch of his own betting app, Bellingham Bet. Users clicking on the ad were directed to a landing page for the non-existent app, featuring a fake rating and download counter, before being redirected to Nightwin's website, which operates in the UK without a local regulator's license.
Meanwhile, QH88, targeting the Vietnamese market, featured a deepfake on their product's homepage showing Fernandes signing an ambassador contract with the brand at Old Trafford. An expert from the Norwegian publication Josimar confirmed that the video was AI-generated, pointing out blurred details and inconsistencies in the footage. The publication noted this as the first instance of an AI avatar of a footballer being used to simulate an ambassador deal.
The advertisement featuring Bellingham was removed after a few days, while the deepfake of Fernandes remained on the QH88 website at the time of the article's publication.