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SportyBet has begun refunding player stakes in both Nigeria and Ghana after a major outage during Wednesday night’s UEFA Champions League matches left thousands unable to view their open bets.
The disruption hit just minutes after kick off of all 18 matches of the final league phase day, locking users out of active tickets and removing cash-out options for almost 90 minutes. By Wednesday morning, complaints had spread across Facebook and X, with many players calling out the platform for displaying a ‘time out’ error when they needed it most.
While it initially did not respond to the complaints, SportyBet later confirmed the problem on its X page and issued an apology, describing the incident as a technical fault that hid open bets for a short period.
“We understand how frustrating this would have been, especially during important live matches. The issue has been fully resolved. We are strengthening monitoring and safeguards to reduce the risk of a recurrence. Affected users will also be contacted directly with an apology from us,” the apology read.
Refunds already being issued
Hours before the kickoff of Wednesday’s UCL games, SportyBet was already trending on different social media platforms, with users sharing codes and speaking about potential large payouts. Google Trends data show that search interest for “SportyBet” reached a score of 100 (peak popularity) on January 28th, a 122% increase compared to other Wednesdays.
However, players began to notice disruptions as soon as the games started, with users reporting that their open bets disappeared from the app.
While new bets could still be placed, ongoing tickets were inaccessible, leaving players unable to track their wagers or cash out. The issue lasted through the matches and only cleared after full‑time, leading bettors to accuse the platform of intentional sabotage.
By Thursday afternoon, players in Nigeria and Ghana confirmed that they had begun to receive refunds. Several reported that SportyBet credited them with free bets covering part of their original stake.
The operator has not disclosed the total number of affected users, but the compensation rollout appears to be ongoing.
Growing pressure on betting platforms across Africa
The incident has renewed conversations about reliability during peak football events, especially in markets where live betting is popular. SportyBet, one of the biggest operators in both Nigeria and Ghana, has faced similar complaints in the past.
This also comes a few days after the Botswana Gambling Authority moved to tighten control over licensed operators following a wave of player complaints.
Bettors in Botswana had reported platforms crashing during busy periods and payouts dragging on for weeks without clear updates. As online betting has grown and taken a larger share of total wagers, those gaps in transparency and system stability have become harder to ignore.
Lewanika Timothy of the Authority said operators accused of disadvantaging players through system failures, poor records, unexplained interruptions, and slow payment processing will now face closer scrutiny.
