The Swiss regulator GESPA filed a complaint on FIFA’s NFT forum
The Swiss Gambling Regulatory Authority (GSPA), the country's gambling regulatory authority, has filed a complaint against FIFA's non-fungible token (NFT) platform FIFA Collect.
On Friday, GESPA announced its complaint, citing the platform's “competitions” that show users prizes such as air-claim campaigns and challenges, which under current Swiss laws have the potential to claim gambling prizes. GESPA wrote:
“Participation in the contest is only possible through financial participation and by winning monetary benefits. Participants' receipt of prizes is based on random draws or similar procedures.
In terms of gambling law, the deals in question are part lotteries and part sports betting,” said GESPA. Switzerland has only two nationally regulated sports betting providers: Sporttip and Jouez Sport, according to GESPA.
Cointelegraph reached out to FIFA and Modex, the provider of Web3, which runs the FIFA Collect platform, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The regulatory complaint shows how emerging technologies such as NFTs and Web3 platforms still struggle with legal gray zones as authorities weigh how emerging developments in the digital economy fit within the legacy framework.
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GESPA launched an investigation into the FIFA collection
GESPA began investigating FIFA's collection in October on “right-to-buy” NFTs that provide ticketing rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
NFTs give holders the right, but not necessarily, to buy tickets at market prices, to avoid price increases on secondary markets – a common issue at major sporting events.
World Cup finals NFTs for the most popular soccer teams, including Argentina, Spain, France, England and Brazil, fetched $999 and were all sold out, according to data from a FIFA collector.
FIFA Collect was launched in 2022 on Algorand's layer-1 blockchain network and has launched several NFT collections since then.
However, FIFA has announced plans to migrate to its own blockchain called the FIFA blockchain, a layer-1 subnet on the Avalanche network.
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