PANews reported on June 11 that according to Decrypt, the Fifth District Court of Barcelona is investigating a cryptocurrency fraud case involving professional football players. The company involved, Shirtum, is accused of defrauding investors of at least $3.4 million through NFT projects supported by star players. The six players involved include World Cup champions Papu Gómez and Lucas Ocampos, former Barcelona players Ivan Rakitić and Javier Saviola, as well as Nico Pareja and Alberto Moreno.

Prosecutor's documents show that the Spanish-Argentinian joint venture evaded taxes through a complex corporate structure, and the NFTs of the players' image rights it sold were never traded. After the players participated in the promotion as "founders", they systematically deleted relevant social media evidence. In March 2022, the company claimed to have been hacked, but no police report was filed, and the platform was quietly closed.