Omer Faruk Kıroglu is the first to be bought with the cryptocurrency.
A Turkish amateur league football club has signed a player by paying him with bitcoin in what the club chairman says is the first signing of a player in cryptocurrency.
Harunustaspor chairman Haldun Sehit told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency late Tuesday that the club paid Omer Faruk Kiroglu 2,000 Turkish liras worth of bitcoin (0.0534 bitcoin) in addition to 2,000 Turkish lira ($540).
Club chairman Haldun Sehit declared that the move was the first of its kind by a sports club in Turkey and worldwide. “We did it to make a name for ourselves in the country and the world… We are proud of this achievement and know it will raise our profile,” he was quoted as saying.
“As my chairman said, we are doing something new,” the player said.
On Twitter the player posted a picture of himself wearing the club’s jersey and a phone showing the Bitcoin transfer.
Omer Faruk Kiroglu diventa il primo giocatore della storia del calcio pagato con i bitcoin. Succede in un campionato amatoriale turco. pic.twitter.com/uxqivRYhdj
— Michele Gazzetti (@MicheleGazzetti) January 31, 2018
European Union legislators agreed last month on stricter rules to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing on exchange platforms for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
Cryptocurrency is growing in popularity within sport with Arsenal recently signing a sponsorship deal with a company CashBet, while the London Football Exchange has launched a football focussed $350 million cryptocurrency fundraising.
Sehit told Anadolu the club decided to sign Kiroglu with the cryptocurrency to make the team known “in Turkey and the world.”
Sehit says “God willing, bitcoin will bring us the championship.”
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