Gespa files criminal complaint in connection with FIFA Collect

Swiss regulator Gespa has filed a criminal complaint into the actions of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and its digital collectable market FIFA Collect.

Gespa argues that the products offered by the collectable site fall under illegal gambling as per the nation’s strict rules on licenses to operate any similar services.

This would require the blockchain-based image or non-fungible token (NFT) provider to go through the same registration and application process as a betting site.

FIFA comes under scrutiny of Gespa

In an official post via the regulator’s site, it was made clear that FIFA collect had been investigated and investigators had found in early October 2025 that “unlicensed and therefore illegal gambling activities,” were taking place via the site.

Gespa made prosecutors aware of the “drops” and “challenges” that were available on the FIFA platform for a price. Swiss gambling law regards any monetary stake involving a game of chance resulting in asset-based rewards or monetary value must then be regulated and operated by a licensed “money game” provider.

This “monetary stake” is key to the argument that FIFA collect falls under the lotteries or sports betting category in Switzerland.

FIFA on the other hand categorizes the media as a digital collectable rather than something related to gambling. With the official site stating users have a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a personal digital collection and be part of the richest and most authentic football legacy of all time – The FIFA World Cup.”

The language used by FIFA in the collectable arena centres around “challenges” and an official leaderboard that tracks points based on the number of the digital collectables that are redeemed for different rarities.

Both Gespa and FIFA seem to be on opposite sides of the line on the legality of the alleged lottery-style nature of the paid image drops.

Gespa have stated that FIFA’s product falls under Article 135(1) of the Swiss Federal Gambling Act and must be progressed by prosecutors.

As a result of the regulator flagging the illegal activity it has decided “not issue further comments while the criminal process is ongoing, out of respect for prosecutorial jurisdiction.”

Featured image: FIFA official

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