Chelsea legend John Terry has removed the Premier League trophy from his non-fungible token (NFT) after the iconic piece of silverware was used in digital assets promoted by the former England captain.
This latest craze in the cryptocurrency world has seen footballers past and present jump on the bandwagon, allowing them to make money from digital creations. NFTs are approximately sold at 0.05 Ethereum (ETH), which is currently priced at £93.79, plus an additional transaction fee.
Terry, who now works as a consultant at Chelsea at an academy level, has been promoting cartoons of baby apes on his Twitter page, which included illustrated images of the different trophies he has won throughout his career.
One of the titles that surrounds the cartoon ape is the Premier League trophy, which is protected by its trademark.
Use of its image requires a licensing agreement with the Premier League if it is used in any commercial venture.
Following its use in Terry's NFTs, the Premier League wrote to the former defender and 'Ape Kids Club' to point out that he will need a licensing agreement to continue using it, according to The Guardian.
UEFA are also investigating the matter after discovering that illustrations of both Champions League and Europa League trophies have been used in the NFTs.
According to The Athletic, a UEFA spokesperson said after discovering the NFTs: 'UEFA takes the protection of its intellectual property rights seriously and we are investigating this matter further. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.'
The Guardian are also reporting that Chelsea are also looking into the cartoons, which contain images of the club's badge.
It comes as a U-turn from Terry who dismissed the original reports from the Telegraph as 'absolutely plum' on Twitter when the story was published on Wednesday.
In a reply to the Telegraph, Terry wrote: 'Must be true if Sam has written it... Absolutely plum.'
Terry, along with other Premier League greats including former Chelsea and England team-mate Cole, have been endorsing the 'Ape Kids Club' NFTs on Twitter.
An NFT is a non-interchangeable unique unit of data that is tracked on a blockchain to prove its authenticity. These collectable units of data can be sold for large sums of money and can represent anything online.
The Ape Kids Club NFTs are an off-shoot of the 'Bored Ape Yacht Club' that has risen to prominence in the United States and has seen the likes of Eminem spend $461,868 (£342,000) on a digital illustration of the cartoon ape.
Current Chelsea full back Reece James has also tweeted about his own 'Mutant Ape' acquisition while Terry has namechecked the likes of Jack Wilshere, Willian and PSG's Marco Verratti while promoting the NFT extensively on Twitter.
According to the Telegraph, Cole has not entered into a contract with the creators of 'Ape Kids Club' and he has only retweeted an image of an NFT that included an illustrated image of the Premier League trophy.
This has potentially landed the likes of Terry and Cole into hot water legally with the Premier League, who are now seeking advice from their lawyers over the matter.
Sportsmail have approached John Terry, Ashley Cole and the Premier League with a request for comment.
NFTs are stored on the Blockchain and are traded in cryptocurrencies in what remains as an unregulated financial sector.
Unlike cash or gold, both fungible objects that can be easily exchanged for another object or money at the same value, where an NFT is non-fungible and can't be exchanged in the same way.
For example, other unique artworks such as the Mona Lisa are also considered non-fungible.
NFTs can only be purchased via specific platforms, such as OpenSea and Foundation, and are to be purchased using cryptocurrency.
The two biggest and most popular cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there are more than 5,000 different varieties in circulation.