Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be in trouble with the world football governing body, FIFA, and European football governing body, UEFA, over his involvement with a betting company in Sweden.
Some media outlets in Sweden are claiming that the 39-year-old striker could be banned from football for three years or fined heavily by either FIFA or UEFA due to his partnership with the betting company.
Few years before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, a company owned by Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured 10 percent shares in a betting company known as Bethard which automatically made the football star a shareholder in the betting company.
This is said to be against FIFA rules which warned that footballers who are still playing competitively should not own a betting company or own shares in one.
Due to the deal, Ibrahimovic became an ambassador of the betting company and has featured in some of their television commercials over the years.
A report in a Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, claimed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not invited to Sweden national team before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The newspaper also claimed that Swedish Football Association is aware of Ibrahimovic’s association with the betting company.
So, the cat is out of the box –@Ibra_official is not going to play the World Cup. You could question if that is news since he left the national team long ago. But anyway, given the number of media inquiries we recieve. This is not in any way related to his engagement in Bethard
— Bethard Official (@BethardOfficial) April 26, 2018
Reports claimed that the attention of FIFA and UEFA have been drawn to Ibrahimovic’s association with Bethard. Hence, the football governing bodies are reportedly monitoring the activities of the footballer with the betting company.
Reports also claimed that Ibrahimovic’s company is one of the largest shareholders in the betting company which makes it even inappropriate that the footballer is involved with the betting company when he is still an active footballer.
Recall that Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from international football in 2016 to concentrate on club football until February 2021 when he staged a return to the national team making him the oldest player to play for the national team.
He is currently Sweden’s all-time highest goalscorer with 62 goals in 118 appearances. He has been playing for the national team since January 31, 2021.
Ibrahimovic is a regular in AC Milan where he has been since January 2020. He has scored 15 goals and provided 2 assists in 17 appearances in the league this season. He has played 25 times in all competitions this season in which he scored 17 goals and provided 3 assists.
