In the 2025 EuroLeague Final held in Abu Dhabi, AS Monaco Basketball faced Fenerbahçe Beko not only in a highly competitive game—but also in the midst of a sponsorship scandal. While Fenerbahçe secured the championship with a hard-fought victory, Monaco drew criticism for wearing jerseys featuring the logo of Meritking.news, a website linked to the illegal betting platform Meritking, which operates unlawfully in Turkey.
Meritking.news presents itself as a digital sports news portal, but investigations in Turkey and across Europe have exposed it as a promotional front for the unlicensed gambling site Meritking. The brand previously made headlines when Galatasaray signed a $14 million deal to feature Meritking.news on its jerseys—an arrangement that provoked public backlash, legal scrutiny, and official objections from the Turkish government.
Displaying the Meritking.news logo on such a prominent stage—Europe’s most prestigious basketball tournament—raises serious questions about sponsorship ethics in elite sports. France, where Monaco is based, maintains one of Europe’s strictest regulatory frameworks on gambling, and any collaboration with unlicensed betting operators can carry legal consequences.
The use of Meritking branding during the Final, especially when previous games featured crypto exchange Zondacrypto in the same ad space, points to a deliberate and last-minute sponsor switch. This raises suspicions of deeper commercial ties between the two entities.
As Fenerbahçe lifted the EuroLeague trophy, Monaco’s controversial sponsorship choice overshadowed what should have been a purely sporting spectacle. The incident highlights the urgent need for tighter oversight of sponsor vetting in international competitions—particularly when it comes to entities linked to illegal gambling operations.