Swiss Regulator GESPA Files Criminal Complaint Against FIFA’s NFT Platform

• GESPA accuses FIFA Collect of running unlicensed gambling through NFT-based competitions.
• Only licensed operators like Sporttip can legally offer gambling in Switzerland.
• FIFA’s NFT platform faces growing legal scrutiny amid its blockchain transition plans.

The Gambling Supervisory Authority of Switzerland (GESPA) has pressed criminal charges on the FIFA NFT platform based on blockchain technology, FIFA Collect. The regulator charges FIFA with the provision of gambling services without the relevant Swiss licenses. It states that the NFT competitions through the platform entail paid entry and winning based on luck. Hence, GESPA views such actions as gambling under the Federal Act on Gambling and claims that it has to report possible offenders to prosecutors.

In early October 2025, the regulator started its review after it learned of collect.fifa.com. In the course of evaluation, GESPA analyzed the functionality of FIFA Collect in collaboration with its Web3 partner Modex, including the competition system in the form of the so-called drops and challenges. The authority requires users to pay a participation fee to participate and winners get monetary rewards, which are selected randomly. The regulator thus arrived at the conclusion that these types of activities qualify as gambling, as they are based on financial stakes and aspects of chance.

GESPA Says FIFA Collect Breaches Swiss Gambling Rules

In its press release, GESPA clarified that the competition on the site was operated as a lottery or sports betting. The regulator only allowed participation in the competitions in exchange of monetary stake, whose monetary gains could be won. It further highlighted that the outcomes are determined by random draws or such-like methods. Consequently, GESPA considers the activities of the platform illegal since Switzerland only licenses two sports gambling platforms, viz., Sporttip and Jouez Sport.

Further, GESPA assured that it had reported the issue to Swiss law enforcement to have the final say. Prosecutors are going to decide whether or not criminal charges will be filed. It was in the meantime declared by the regulator that it is willing to assist the investigators in Article 135 of paragraph 1 of the Federal Act on Gambling. Yet, GESPA will not provide additional information until the case is brought to court.

FIFA Collect Faces Legal Pressure Amid Blockchain Transition

FIFA Collect was released in 2022 on the Algorand blockchain and soon spread into markets of global NFTs. Since that time, the platform launched multiple NFT collections that are appealing to football fans across the globe. The central product among its offerings is the Right to Buy NFTs, which enable its owners to acquire a ticket to the FIFA 2026 World Cup at face value so that they can save the outrageous resale costs. Every NFT fetched a fixed sum of 999 dollars, and collection(s) of well-known teams like Argentina, Spain, France, England, and Brazil have already sold out, as shown by FIFA Collect statistics.

Moreover, FIFA recently stated that FIFA Collect is to be migrated to its own blockchain network based on Avalanche, which is a layer-1 subnet. Nevertheless, FIFA and Modex have not responded to the complaint of GESPA as reported by Cointelegraph. The case thus indicates the tension that is increasing between the developing blockchain technologies and the old gambling legislation. Through the evolution of regulators, increased Web3 projects can be subject to examination in conventional legal environments.