Bylaw officers for the City of Toronto handed out almost 100 charges related to the 2026 men’s World Cup over the opening two weekends of the soccer tournament.
As part of its host agreement with FIFA, the city agreed to use public bylaw officers to enforce the governing body’s trademarks and ensure businesses that hadn’t paid weren’t associating with the brand.
Businesses without licences are not allowed to use the FIFA logo, Toronto’s host city logos, any image of the World Cup trophy, the official ball or phrases like “FIFA” or “World Cup” in their advertising.
“In order to protect their sponsors’ investments, FIFA and these other organizations typically protect their intellectual property quite strongly,” Ken Clark, of Aird & Berlis, previously explained to Global News.
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The host city agreement means that strong enforcement falls to public bylaw officers.
The City of Toronto told Global News that, between June 12 and 14, bylaw staff had issued 85 warnings and 40 charges “for various offences.”
The next weekend, between June 20 and 21, staff issued 75 warnings and laid 50 charges “for various vending-related violations including illegal and unlicensed vending.”
Some bars have been able to display branding for the competition by using existing food and drink sponsors.
Cafe Diplomatico in Little Italy, for example, is using materials from Michelob Ultra. Michelob Ultra is the official beer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup, which means the restaurant is able to display World Cup branding through its drinks promotions without breaking the rules.
Elsewhere, a Toronto cannabis store selling a bong that resembles the World Cup was served with a legal letter from FIFA — although not using Toronto’s bylaw officers.
The law firm representing FIFA outlined eight immediate demands in its letter. They include turning over receipts, marketing materials and information on how many of the $50 bongs Cosmic Charlies sold, where it procured them from and what its profits were.
— with files from Global News’ Nicole Di Donato and The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
