Meme cryptocurrency floki inu has muscled into the world of elite soccer — it's signed partnerships with top-flight clubs in Spain, Italy and India

• Top-flight Italian club SSC Napoli said on Tuesday it had partnered up with cryptocurrency floki inu.
• The team behind floki inu has also sealed sponsorship deals with Spain's Cadiz and India's Kerala Blasters.
• But the meme coin is under scrutiny from the UK advertising watchdog for a recent ad campaign.

Floki inu, a meme cryptocurrency inspired by the likes of shiba inu and dogecoin, has managed to dive into the world of sport and promote itself across Spain, India and most recently Italy.

SSC Napoli, one of the top professional soccer teams in Italy, announced in a press release on Tuesday that it had partnered with floki inu for sponsorship.

Under the terms of the deal, the floki inu logo, which features a cartoon of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog in a Viking helmet, will feature on the back of the SCC Napoli first team shirt, as well as on LED displays around the pitch during all league games as well as on other promotional material.

"Our goal is to become the best known and most used cryptocurrency in the world, which is why the partnership with a historically recognized global brand and a fantastic fan base like Napoli represents a fundamental asset in our strategy," floki inu's marketing department said in a statement.

"In the first weeks of close collaboration, which led to this partnership announcement today, we discovered that our Club and floki share the same values ​​and aspirations for growth," Serena Salvione, Chief International Development Officer at SSC Napoli, said.

The team behind the dogecoin-spinoff cryptocurrency have also partnered with Spain's Cádiz, an elite-level club. The floki inu logo will appear on the sleeves of the players' shirts in time for a key match this Sunday against Atlético Madrid, according to a Twitter announcement last week.

Spain's Cádiz were not immediately available to comment.

Floki inu has also managed to seal a deal with Kerala Blasters, an Indian professional soccer club, as its sleeve sponsor for the upcoming season of the Hero Indian Super League, the soccer team announced last week.

Floki inu launched in June this year, as a nod to Tesla chief executive and crypto supporter Elon Musk saying he was going to get a Shiba Inu dog - the subject of the original "doge" internet meme that gave rise to dogecoin - and name it "Floki".

In under six months, it's gone from cult-cryptocurrency to the sponsor of top-flight soccer teams. In the last month alone, it's gained around 200% in value to trade around $0.00017264, according to CoinGecko.

But floki inu's quest for world dominationi hasn't all been plain sailing. The marketing team launched an aggressive ad campaign across London's massive public transport system last month, with posters throughout the subway and on the city's famous double-decker buses.

Like many crypto assets, it's unregulated in the UK and it didn't take long for the advertising watchdog to look into the campaign, according to media reports. Transport for London, the city's public transit authority, said it ensures all ads in the system comply with its own policies, as well as those of the Advertising Standards Agency.