Switzerland’s Gambling Supervisory Authority (GESPA), the country’s gambling regulator, has filed a complaint against FIFA’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform FIFA Collect, alleging that it is an unlicensed gambling provider.
On Friday, GESPA announced the complaint, alleging the platform’s “competitions,” which feature user rewards like airdrop campaigns and challenges, constitute gambling under current Swiss regulations due to the element of chance in claiming rewards. GESPA wrote:
“Participation in the competitions is only possible in exchange for a monetary stake, with monetary benefits to be won. Whether participants win a prize depends on random draws or similar procedures.
From a gambling law perspective, the offers in question are partly lotteries and partly sports betting,” GESPA said. Switzerland has only two nationwide regulated sports gambling providers, Sporttip and Jouez Sport, according to GESPA.
Cointelegraph reached out to FIFA and Modex, the Web3 service provider that powers the FIFA Collect platform, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The regulatory complaint highlights how nascent technologies like NFTs and Web3 platforms still struggle with legal gray zones as officials weigh how emerging developments in the digital economy fit within the legacy framework.
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GESPA launches probe into FIFA Collect
GESPA began probing FIFA Collect in October over its “Right to Buy” NFTs that give the holder ticket reservation rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The NFTs give holders the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a ticket at face market value, to avoid price gouging in secondary markets — a common issue at large sporting events.
World Cup finals reservation NFTs for some of the most popular football teams, including Argentina, Spain, France, England and Brazil, carried a price tag of $999 and have all sold out, data from FIFA Collect shows.
FIFA Collect was launched in 2022 on the Algorand layer-1 blockchain network and has launched several NFT collections since that time.
However, FIFA announced plans to migrate to its own blockchain, dubbed FIFA blockchain, a layer-1 subnet on the Avalanche network.
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