In brief
- Gespa, Switzerland’s gambling authority, filed a formal criminal complaint against FIFA’s NFT collectibles platform.
- The regulator pointed to the site’s random draws and right-to-buy offerings, which it likened to sports betting and lotteries.
- FIFA Collect is the soccer governing body’s collectibles platform, which now runs on an Avalanche L1.
Gespa, the lottery and gambling authority of Switzerland, has formally filed a criminal complaint regarding FIFA Collect, the international soccer governing body’s blockchain collectibles platform, the organization announced on Friday.
The authority had begun an initial assessment and preliminary probe into FIFA Collect and its offerings—like its “right-to-buy” ticket NFTs— in early October, telling Decrypt that it “couldn’t rule out” whether the platform’s offerings would be relevant to Swiss gambling regulation.
After deeper investigation, it’s now reported the collectibles platform to the relevant authorities.
“During the investigation, suspicions were confirmed that collect.fifa.com offers gambling services that are not licensed in Switzerland and are therefore illegal,” Gespa said in a written statement. “Gespa is obliged to notify the competent prosecution authorities if it becomes aware of violations of the Federal Act on Gambling.”
According to the regulator, participation in select competitions on the platform that offer monetary benefits is only possible “in exchange for a monetary stake,” ultimately providing rewards via random draw or similar procedures.
“From a gambling law perspective, the offers in question are partly lotteries and partly sports betting (right-to-final),” it said.
Further information about the criminal complaint and proceedings are not being shared at this time, Gespa Director Manuel Richard told Decrypt.
The “right-to-final” the authority references refers to a new collectible type offered by FIFA called “right-to-buy” (RTB). This collectible designation provides NFT holders with the opportunity to buy from a designated allocation of FIFA World Cup tickets for the upcoming 2026 World Cup being hosted across North America.
RTB collectibles, which guarantee a user can skip the general queue of prospective ticket purchasers, can be purchased or revealed from collectible packs on the platform, or bought on the secondary marketplace.
On the secondary market, these collectibles can range from around $98 for the right-to-buy tickets to a group match round in Houston all the way up to $6,000 for the right-to-buy a ticket to the opening match at Azteca Stadium in Mexico.
FIFA is selling tickets to the world’s largest soccer sporting event in multiple phases. The organization recently announced it has already sold more than 1 million tickets through its early Visa presale.
The soccer organization’s blockchain collectible platform was originally developed on Algorand in 2022, but earlier this year FIFA announced its departure from the proof-of-stake blockchain. Instead, FIFA opted to create its own Avalanche L1 network to support the platform.
A representative for FIFA did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
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