Swiss canton votes to keep UEFA tax benefits as activists shift fight to courts

UEFA’s tax arrangements in Switzerland have survived a fresh political challenge after lawmakers in the canton of Vaud voted to allow the European football governing body’s tax credits to continue.The Vaud parliament voted 74–53 on Tuesday night to reject a resolution that would have pushed the cantonal government to reconsider UEFA’s privileged status unless it took action against the Israeli Football Association.Ashish Prashar, campaign director of Game Over Israel, said: “In a scandalous development today, Swiss lawmakers in the canton of Vaud with a vote of 53-74 rejected a resolution that would have held UEFA accountable for its complicity in Israeli regime crimes.“We will continue to pursue UEFA in the Swiss federal courts and will imminently file a motion to compel the Swiss government to enforce international law on UEFA and suspend Israel.”The vote matters commercially because UEFA is headquartered in Nyon, inside Vaud, and benefits from tax treatment that campaigners argue is meant to reflect the presence of international sports bodies and their stated social purpose.Supporters of the resolution have sought to link UEFA’s tax position to its governance decisions, arguing that tax privileges should be conditional on consistent application of anti-discrimination and ‘peace through sport’ principles.The pressure campaign centres on UEFA’s continued recognition of the Israeli Football Association while Israeli clubs based in West Bank settlements remain part of its domestic structures, an issue that has generated repeated calls for football authorities to act.Campaigners have also pointed to UEFA and FIFA’s suspension of Russian teams after the invasion of Ukraine as evidence that football’s governing bodies can move quickly when they choose to.The defeated Vaud proposal did not itself strip UEFA of tax benefits, but it would have increased political leverage by requiring the cantonal government to set deadlines and demand justification from UEFA over whether its current stance aligns with the conditions attached to its tax treatment.Tax exposure is a live issue for sports bodies based in Switzerland because governance disputes can create reputational risk, regulatory scrutiny and, in the worst case, financial consequences if authorities reassess the basis for preferential arrangements.Estimates published by campaigners and media have suggested the value of UEFA’s Swiss tax advantages could be worth tens of millions of euros annually, although UEFA does not disclose detailed jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction tax outcomes.The Vaud vote removes an immediate local threat but does not close the wider issue, with Game Over Israel now signalling a strategy built around federal legal action and pressure on the Swiss government rather than a further cantonal parliamentary push.UEFA has faced sustained scrutiny over how it applies membership and integrity standards across its 55 associations, and the Switzerland-based tax debate adds a new governance test at a time when the organisation is also managing expanded competition formats and heightened sponsor expectations around ESG commitments.