(Bloomberg) --

A U.K. gambling website that offers bets on soccer players announced that it was in talks about its liquidity and paused a technology project with stock market giant Nasdaq Inc.

Football Index also said that it would slash payouts to traders, which it calls “dividends,” in a move that caused an angry backlash on social media. The decision was made following consultation with legal and financial advisers, “in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Bohan said in a statement on the platform’s website.

“When it comes to liquidity, I want to assure you all that we have a dedicated liquidity consultant who is engaging with various third parties in the market,” Bohan added.

In September 2019, the U.K. advertising watchdog told Football Index to stop presenting its services as an investment opportunity rather than a gambling product as it upheld a complaint against the firm.

In July that year, Nasdaq announced an agreement to provide Football Index with a cloud-optimized trading engine. Football Index said in Friday’s statement that, while the partnership had reached the testing phase, the company has “made the decision to hit pause on Nasdaq integration till later in the year.”

A spokesman for Nasdaq did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

A Football Index spokesperson was not immediately available to comment and neither Bohan nor the company’s founder, Adam Cole, responded to messages on social media.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.