Arturo Vidal’s Dangerous Gamble: Betting on Himself
If you're a world-famous footballing superstar, it's a bad idea to own your own gambling site. It's an even worse idea to have that site offer bets on your own matches.
In April, Arturo Vidal — the Chilean football icon who won titles with Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona - announced the launch of his own online gambling platform, Juega con el King (Play with the King).
This has set off a firestorm in Chile as the platform is not licensed to operate there and Vidal is still an active player whose games can be bet on.
In a flashy Instagram video, the Colo Colo midfielder declared, “The King has arrived! From the king of the field, to the king of the game,” inviting fans to “register, bet, and win like a king.” The site, aimed primarily at the Chilean market, offers a full suite of gambling options: sports betting on various matches, an online casino with slots and live dealer games, quick-play minigames, and even live-streamed events. Vidal touted features like high odds, 24/7 customer support, and fast payouts to attract his loyal fanbase.
But while the site is named after Vidal and his nickname, King Arthur, the football appears to bemore frontman than proprietor. The platform’s website prominently features his nickname and likeness, but it provides no public information about the company ownership or licensing.
Investigations by Chilean media revealed that a local tech entrepreneur registered the business just weeks before launch. In February 2025, a 31-year-old named José Ignacio Valenzuela Cornejo quietly incorporated a firm called Pro Informáticos SpA, then in March began setting up the Juega con el King online casino. However, the company is officially involved in IT and marketing, conspicuously omitting any mention of gambling operations.
Vidal’s exact financial stake or legal responsibility, if any, remains unclear.
Long Odds and a Red Card
Weeks after Juega con el King launched, Vidal played for Chilean club Colo Colo in a high-profile Copa Libertadores match against Argentina’s Racing Club on May 3, 2025.
In the second half, with Colo Colo trailing, Vidal was sent off — shown a red card after taunting opposing fans with a provocative gesture. While the dismissal was bad enough, the real bad news came from the betting platform. It turned out Juega con el King had been offering bets on whether Vidal himself would receive a card in that very game.
During the that match, Vidal’s own site allowed fans to bet on him getting a red card – at 21-to-1 odds. Then it happened. Even bets on a Vidal yellow card or whether he’d start the match were on the table.
The optics could hardly have been worse. Chilean media and fans immediately cried foul, calling it “an evident conflict of interest” and questioning whether the incident was mere coincidence or a darker sign of match-fixing temptation.
While there’s no evidence Vidal deliberately earned the red card to cash in, the mere possibility set off alarm bells. After all, if an active player’s own betting site profits from bets on his in-game actions, how can anyone be sure the integrity of the sport isn’t compromised?
Within days, a chastened Vidal attempted damage control. Juega con el King’s social media accounts scrubbed away any trace of the star; all images of Vidal as the platform’s poster-boy vanished overnight. More importantly, the site itself pulled Colo Colo and all Vidal-related betting markets entirely. Vidal, notably, went silent publicly – no apologies or explanations – but the * tacit admission of guilt* was clear.
However, on May 20, CONMEBOL opened an investigation nonetheless, citing Article 7 of its disciplinary rulebook, which bars players from dabbling in bets or possessing any financial stakes linked to fixtures.
Even Chile’s gambling regulators were fuming. “We have a superstar player from Chile’s most popular team all over social media saying he has his own betting platform. This creates tremendous confusion in the country,” warned Cecilia Valdés, executive president of the Chilean Casinos Association (ACCJ). “On one hand, they’re told online gambling is illegal, but on the other, this national idol is opening his own site.”
She also lambasted Juega con el King, saying “Nobody knows where this website comes from, or where the money comes from.”
When Players Bet on the House
Vidal is hardly the first footballer to blur the lines between sports and gambling.
A prime example is Zlatan Ibrahimović. The Swedish superstar owned a reported 10% stake in Bethard, a Malta-based betting company, while he was still playing for AC Milan in 2021.
When UEFA got wind of Ibrahimović’s arrangement, they launched an investigation and promptly fined him €50,000 for violating regulations, citing FIFA’s Code of Ethics which bans players from having financial interests in betting companies. Ibrahimović was also ordered to sever ties with Bethardespn.com. The message was clear: no matter how big your name, if you’re an active player, you cannot be in the betting business.
Contrast that with the case of Jay-Jay Okocha. The Nigerian midfield wizard retired from professional football over a decade ago and later became a brand ambassador, or the public face, for BetKing, a major betting operator in Africa. Okocha has appeared in BetKing marketing and at events celebrating the company’s milestones.
Because he’s no longer a player or coach under FIFA’s jurisdiction, Okocha’s involvement hasn’t sparked the kind of disciplinary response Vidal or Zlatan faced. In fact, it’s commonplace today for retired athletes to partner with betting firms – from former England striker Michael Owen promoting a bookmaker, to ex-NBA stars doing ads for casinos.