Yes, you can run a competition around the World Cup, but you need to be careful not to fall foul of FIFA’s strict rules on sponsorship. Instead, you have to subtly associate your products or company with the tournament (this is called ambush marketing), because unless you have paid to be an official FIFA partner or sponsor, you can’t use any World Cup branding. You can’t even give away tickets to World Cup games as prizes.
Running a competition around the World Cup – what can I do?
To run a World Cup competition without infringing FIFA’s intellectual property rights, you need to be creative in order to establish implicit – rather than explicit – links with the World Cup. These are some approaches that are permissible:
- You can use generic words like ‘global’, ‘football’ and ‘tournament’
- You can employ graphic elements that represent the sport itself or the countries involved in the tournament, for example flags or national symbols
- You can focus on the fans and the celebratory nature of the competition
- You can give away imaginative prizes, like specially designed T-shirts, products for a match viewing party or lucky charms
- You can design a competition mechanic that ties in with the event’s features or the tournament timetable, for instance prize values that increase with each stage or shareable daily competition results
Running a competition around the World Cup – what can’t I do?
The list of what you can’t do when you’re running a competition to celebrate the World Cup is somewhat longer. For the 2026 World Cup it includes the following, but it will be broadly the same for any future World Cup:
- Don’t imply in any way that you are an official partner or sponsor
- Don’t give away tickets to World Cup games, even if you’ve bought them yourself
- Don’t offer your own unlicensed merchandise as prizes, because this will be treated as counterfeiting
- Don’t use the words ‘World Cup’ in your promotional material – they are trademarked
- Don’t reproduce the ‘official marks’, which include the main World Cup logo and the logo variations created for each host city
- Don’t employ the official slogan or the official social media hashtags – and yes, we’ve not included them here, just in case…
- Don’t use a picture or replica of the World Cup trophy itself
- Don’t put the official mascots in the artwork for your competition – in case you were wondering there are three for 2026: Zayu the Jaguar (Mexico), Maple the Moose (Canada) and Clutch the Bald Eagle
What happens if I break FIFA’s rules?
FIFA publishes extensive guidelines that explain what businesses can and can’t do and if it perceives that a business has breached its guidelines it will defend itself vigorously. However, it says it will initially seek to resolve the issue by speaking to the company concerned, but if necessary will send a cease-and-desist letter, and institute formal legal proceedings. It may also claim compensation for damages.
A well-known example of this is when, at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, FIFA threatened legal action against a Dutch brewery over what it claimed was a piece of ambush marketing. Netherlands were playing Denmark in Johannesburg when the TV cameras alighted on a group of women wearing bright orange, although unbranded, dresses, which had been sold by the brewery. FIFA interpreted this as undermining official sponsor Budweiser and had the women ejected from the stadium.
In the UK, your competition must also comply with the CAP Code, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which regulates non-broadcast advertising. The CAP Code states that you can’t suggest you have official status if you don’t and your prize promotion must not be misleading.
What are the key points about running a World Cup competition?
- To run a World Cup competition, you need to artfully create a link with the event without pretending be an official FIFA partner or sponsor if you’re not.
- You can use generic words and phrases, you can reference the countries involved in the tournament and you can feature the fan experience.
- You can’t use World Cup branding, infringe trademarks or breach intellectual property rights – you can’t even give away World Cup tickets.
