Swiss gambling regulators are considering whether the “natural” tokens sold and sold by global soccer organisation BodyFIFA are complying with rules governing gambling ahead of the 2026 World Cup tournament, Bloomberg reported. No fraud has been alleged.
GESPA evaluates whether tokens that can be purchased, sold and traded in the FIFA Improper Token (NFT) market are like gambling or represent conditional purchase rights. FIFA stands for Federation International Football Association.
Authorities have not alleged misconduct, have not received reports of misconduct, and are gathering facts to determine whether a lawsuit is guaranteed, coach Manuel Richard told Bloomberg Monday.
According to the FIFA website, RTB tokens are impossible tokens (NFTs) that book dedicated purchase windows for a particular match. They are not tickets, but if the conditions are met, the owner can purchase tickets at face value.
FIFA first rolled out its “Buy-to-Buy” (RTB) tokens in the 2024 World Cup final, and announced 1,000 RTB opportunities for fans. Team-Linked RTBS is only active if the selected team is eligible and can be sold in the secondary market via FIFA’s native marketplace, powered by FIFA’s Web3 partner Modelex.
For the 2026 World Cup hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, the “final” tokens range from $299 to $999, depending on the team. Many tokens are already sold out and prices are determined by odds. Long shots are cheap, and their favorites in Argentina, Brazil, and the UK are high-end.
FIFA said RTBS was created to address the extreme demand for tickets in certain matches and tournaments. For example, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA said there were 3.4 million tickets with around 23 million requests.
Cointelegraph contacted FIFA for comments but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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FIFA Bets on NFT Technology
An NFT is a unique blockchain token that confirms the ownership and reliability of a particular asset. While the broader NFT boom peaked in 2021-22, FIFA continues to use NFT technology for digital collectibles, ticket access rights and gaming.
The World Governance Federation of Football first began its Web3 and NFTS experiments in 2022 when it announced plans to launch FIFA Collect, a native platform on the Algorand blockchain.
In December 2023, FIFA and Modex launched 1,000 NFTS before the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The 100 won tickets for the 2026 World Cup final and earned 900 additional collectibles made of polygons.
FIFA also moved to Web3 games with FIFA rivals in 2024, and was built with Web3 Gaming Studio Mythical Games. Free mobile titles released in June 2025 allow players to run Clubs and run NFT player cards on the Mythos blockchain.
In May, FIFA decided to leave Algorand and move its NFT market and collections to an avalanche.
Francesco Abbate, CEO of Modelx and FIFA Collect, said Avacloud’s EVM-compatible stack makes it easier to connect the FIFA collection to mainstream wallets and Dapps.
With a global fan base of over 5 billion, the Avalanche subnet allows FIFA to run a dedicated, adjustable chain that can be adjusted independently of the avalanche network to handle event-driven surges such as the World Cup.
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