FIFA has joined the Mercado Libre Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance (MACA)in an effort to combat counterfeiting and digital piracy in Latin America. With this partnership, FIFA and Mercado Libre are working together to combat the counterfeiting and piracy of products and merchandise related to the World Cup. The scale of demand highlights the need for this effort: searches for World Cup-related products on Mercado Libre reached 105 per minute in the region in May 2026.
Through this initiative, Mercado Libre and FIFA are not only working together to identify and remove advertisements on the platform that infringe FIFA's intellectual property rights related to its competitions, but are also coordinating actions with authorities to facilitate the seizure of counterfeit products. These measures focus on items such as soccer balls and sports jerseys, with the aim of disrupting and dismantling networks that harm consumers and devalue the reputation of official brands by offering inferior quality products.
The goal of this partnership is to protect the millions of users who use Mercado Libre to make their purchases, guaranteeing access to authentic products.
“At Mercado Libre, we play as a team. This alliance with FIFA allows us to continue protecting our users and the brands that trust our platform, promoting fairer and more transparent commerce,” stated Paula Fernandez Pfizenmaier, Director of Intellectual Property at Mercado Libre.
“FIFA works intensively to protect its intellectual property and the rights granted to the organization’s partners and official licensees. The teamwork and leadership demonstrated by Mercado Libre through this important and effective alliance represent a fundamental pillar of FIFA’s anti-counterfeiting program and an important step towards ensuring that fans have the peace of mind of purchasing authentic, high-quality products,” highlighted Lynn Carrillo, FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer.
With this partnership, Mercado Libre and FIFA also mark an important step forward in favor of fair play and innovation in e-commerce. The alliance complements a broader commercial partnership, in which Mercado Libre acts as the Official Supplier LATAM for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.
