​Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has just emerged from what could be regarded as one of the finest seasons of his club career. The Portuguese playmaker was superb in the latter half of the campaign, playing a pivotal role as United secured a top-three finish in the Premier League. On a personal level, Fernandes enjoyed a standout year, contributing 21 assists in the league and breaking the competition’s all-time single-season record for assists. Yet, the 2023-24 campaign was not without its downsides, as he endured a disappointing World Cup campaign. With Portugal knocked out by Spain in the round of 16, Fernandes managed only a single assist and failed to score, leaving him to answer questions about his form on the international stage.
The Guardian has reported another troubling development involving Fernandes, alongside England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham. According to the newspaper, online gambling sites Nightwin and QH88 engaged in a sophisticated fraud operation by hijacking the identities of two high-profile players to present them as official brand ambassadors. The piece describes how these operators used fake news articles, fabricated photographs, and AI-generated videos to mislead customers into believing that Fernandes and Bellingham had endorsed their brands.
In Fernandes’ case, QH88, a Vietnamese sportsbook and casino site, allegedly constructed a website around a fictitious association with the Portugal international and devoted substantial resources to creating a convincingly realistic AI-generated deepfake video. The video purported to show Fernandes signing an ambassadorial contract with QH88 representatives at Old Trafford. When The Guardian reached out for comment on the matter, neither Fernandes’s management team, Manchester United, nor QH88 offered a response.
The Guardian’s report also touches on a broader issue: the routine infringement of copyright and intellectual property by such sites. The publication notes that they frequently reuse club crests and images of star players to promote brands that likely have little regard for image rights and trademarks. The operators behind these schemes often operate from offshore jurisdictions and rely on multiple shell companies to obscure their true identities, making enforcement exceptionally challenging.
This case underscores the vulnerability of high-profile athletes to identity theft and the growing problem of image-rights exploitation in the digital age. While Fernandes enjoyed a remarkable club season, his personal brand remains exposed to increasingly sophisticated attempts to co-opt it for false endorsements. It also highlights the need for greater vigilance among clubs, players, and their representatives, as well as stronger regulatory and enforcement frameworks to curb such fraudulent activity.
The Peoples Person has long been one of the leading sources for Manchester United news, delivering coverage for more than a decade. For updates and further reporting, you can follow us on Bluesky at @peoplesperson.bsky.social.