Ever since the cryptocurrency and blockchain market boom, sports and cryptocurrencies have often come together for several events and partnerships.
However, this time the two worlds clash as prosecutors have received a criminal complaint from Geldspielaufsicht, the Swiss gaming Supervisory Authority, or GESPA, about FIFA’s World Cup-themed NFT platform, which it claims may violate national gaming regulations.
What is the case?
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, is the world’s regulatory organisation for football, or soccer, and it has its headquarters in Zurich.
The online platform collect.fifa.com (FIFA Collect), which offers a variety of challenges and tournaments involving so-called collectables in the form of non-fungible tokens, was introduced to GESPA in early October, the agency said in a statement on Friday.
After conducting an investigation, the regulator said that FIFA Collect was operating unlawfully by offering gambling services that were not authorised in Switzerland.
Also Read: Underdog Partners With Crypto.com To Launch Sports Prediction Markets In 16 U.S. States
It added that there is a financial cost to enter the platform’s competitions, with cash rewards up for grabs. The results for participants are determined by random drawings or other chance-based processes.
According to GESPA’s interpretation of gambling laws, the products partially qualify as lotteries and partially as sports betting under the Right to Final clause. GESPA reported the infraction to authorities in compliance with its legal duties under the Federal Act on Gambling.
How will the case go forward?
The law enforcement authorities have the last say on any criminal culpability. A request for comment was not immediately answered by FIFA.
In anticipation of the 2022 World Cup, FIFA introduced the digital collectables initiative, which will first launch on Algorand before moving to Polygon in 2023. A new collection will provide early adopters with the opportunity to win tickets to the 2026 World Cup.
“This makes FIFA collectibles available to any football fan, democratizing the ability to own a part of the FIFA World Cup,” FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai said at the time.
Also, the strategic partnership between FIFA and Avalanche to develop the “FIFA Blockchain,” a dedicated Layer-1 blockchain, has been publicly announced.
The goal of this collaboration is to accelerate FIFA’s entry into the Web3 market by utilising Avalanche’s cutting-edge blockchain technology.
How things turn out for the NFT platform will depend on the regulations that unfold. Having said that, even though the NFT industry took a serious hit last year, it has been able to stand back in 2025 and make some profits, proving that it is paving its way for a comeback.
Also Read: FIFA Collect Migrates Digital Collectibles To EVM-Compatible FIFA Blockchain