Council of Europe accuses FIFA of enabling World Cup fraud

The Council of Europe on Sunday accused FIFA of opening "the door wider" to fraud at the 2026 World Cup by welcoming a prediction market as an official tournament partner, escalating a confrontation between European regulators and the global football governing body over the booming but loosely regulated prediction market industry.

'An Open Door to Fraud'

In a statement titled "Before the final whistle," published as the World Cup nears its conclusion, the Council of Europe said prediction markets allow wagering on individual player moments that can be manipulated without affecting the match result, calling it "an open door to fraud." The statement noted that "this World Cup has opened the door wider" because, for the first time, FIFA welcomed a prediction market as an official partner.coe

The criticism is directed at FIFA's partnership with ADI Predictstreet, an Abu Dhabi-backed blockchain platform appointed as the first-ever Official Prediction Market Partner of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The deal, reported to be worth approximately $150 million, was signed in April after the FIFA Council approved it in mid-March.inside.fifa+2

A Partnership Under Scrutiny

ADI Predictstreet has faced questions since its inception. An investigation by ABC News Australia in April found that an executive at the company had previously settled insider trading allegations, and that the platform had "almost no public profile" before being unveiled as a FIFA partner. The company's website was not even set up to accept real-money wagers with just 53 days before the tournament began.abc

Despite the controversy, ADI Predictstreet has expanded aggressively during the World Cup. DAZN announced a strategic partnership with the platform to embed real-time prediction experiences directly into live sports streams. Kalshi, the U.S.-regulated prediction exchange, also entered a co-branded World Cup partnership with ADI Predictstreet in late June.sportsvideo+2

Regulatory Pressure Mounts

The Council of Europe's intervention follows a joint statement in June from nine European national gambling regulators warning that unlicensed prediction markets "involve serious risks of illegality" and pledging cross-border cooperation throughout the tournament. The regulators warned of fund blocking and fraud through insider trading on such platforms.gamingintelligence+1

The broader tensions reflect an industry in rapid expansion. Prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have argued they are not subject to gambling laws, while the casino industry has lobbied to shut them down. The Deseret News reported that FIFA had never before partnered with prediction markets or given "gambling outfits anything approaching this" level of access.nytimes+1

The Washington Post reported Sunday that Europe's top human rights body urged FIFA to help build a stronger integrity framework ahead of the 2030 World Cup, which will be played mostly in Spain and Portugal.washingtonpost