The “Right to Buy” Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) offered by FIFA are currently being scrutinized by the gambling oversight body of Switzerland, though it is noted that no improper conduct has been formally asserted.
An examination is being conducted by the Swiss regulatory body for games of chance into whether the “privilege-to-acquire” digital tokens that were marketed by FIFA, the global football governing association, preceding the 2026 World Cup competition, are in conformance with statutes that govern wagering activities, as was disclosed by Bloomberg. No illicit activity has been formally asserted.
It is being evaluated by Gespa whether the digital units, which are capable of being procured, offloaded, and exchanged on the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) trading venue operated by FIFA, resemble wagering mechanisms or constitute provisional privileges of acquisition. FIFA represents the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
No improper activity has been formally asserted by the regulatory body, nor had any declarations of misconduct been received by it, and information is being compiled to ascertain if any measure is justifiable, Manuel Richard, the director, conveyed to Bloomberg on Monday.
As per the official digital presence of FIFA, Acquisition Privilege digital tokens (RTB NFTs) are described as non-fungible assets which guarantee a specialized procurement opportunity for a particular competitive match. They do not constitute admission passes themselves, but they permit the possessors to purchase genuine tickets at their standard cost provided that predefined criteria are satisfied.
“Privilege-to-Acquire” (RTB) digital tokens were initially introduced by FIFA for the 2024 World Championship Match, with 1,000 RTB possibilities being announced for supporters. Team-specific RTBs are activated only if the designated squad successfully enters the competition, and they are capable of being offloaded on the resale platform via FIFA’s proprietary exchange, which is powered by its Web3 collaborator, Modex.
For the 2026 World Championship event which will be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the “Privilege-to-Final” digital tokens are priced in a range from $299 to $999, contingent upon the specific national team. Numerous tokens are already completely allocated, with valuations being established by probable outcomes—teams considered less likely to succeed are more affordable, while favorites such as Argentina, Brazil, and England are situated at the upper limit of the scale.
It was stated by FIFA that the Acquisition Privilege tokens (RTBs) were conceptualized to manage the exceptionally high consumer requirement for entry passes to certain fixtures and competitions. At the 2022 World Championship held in Qatar, for instance, 3.4 million tickets were made accessible for an estimated 23 million applications, according to the international governing body for football.
The made an attempt to contact FIFA for their statement, but no reply had been secured by the time the article was released to the public.
FIFA Embraces NFT Technology for Fan Engagement
Unique cryptographic markers are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) which serve to confirm the possession and verifiable origin of a particular commodity. While the broader market explosion for NFTs reached its zenith during 2021–22, FIFA has carried on with the deployment of NFT concepts for virtual items available for collection, privileges related to access for admissions, and interactive digital entertainment.
Exploration into Web3 and NFTs was first initiated by the international regulatory body for football back in 2022, at the time when proposals were unveiled to roll out its proprietary digital platform, FIFA Collect, upon the Algorand decentralized ledger.
In December 2023, preceding the Club World Championship tournament held in Saudi Arabia, 1,000 Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) were introduced by FIFA and Modex—100 of these provided an opportunity to acquire entry passes to the 2026 World Cup championship match, and an additional 900 items for collection were digitally inscribed on the Polygon network.
A venture into Web3 interactive digital entertainment was also undertaken by FIFA in 2024 with FIFA Rivals, which was constructed in partnership with the Web3 gaming enterprise Mythical Games. The complimentary-to-access handheld application that was launched in June 2025 permits participants to manage virtual athletic organizations, engage in competition, and transact Non-Fungible Token (NFT) player assets on the Mythos digital ledger.
A determination was reached by FIFA in May to discontinue its association with Algorand and transfer its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) trading venue and digital collection to Avalanche, a platform which would be employed to operate its proprietary base-layer cryptographic ledger.
It was asserted by Francesco Abbate, the Chief Executive Officer of Modex and FIFA Collect, that the EVM-compliant framework of AvaCloud simplifies the linkage of FIFA Collect with widely-used digital wallets and decentralized applications (DApps).
Given a projected global following exceeding five billion individuals, the Avalanche Subnets will afford FIFA the capability to operate a bespoke, configurable digital ledger which can be modified irrespective of the primary Avalanche network to accommodate sudden increases in user activity precipitated by major events, such as the World Championship tournament.
