A prominent United States visual artist has filed a $25 million lawsuit against world football’s governing body, FIFA, and several other defendants in federal court. The legal action, submitted on Monday in the US District Court in Dallas, alleges that workers illegally painted over his landmark mural of life-sized swimming whales to promote the upcoming 2026 World Cup matches. The artist, Robert Wyland, who operates professionally under his last name, contends that the destruction of his work directly violates federal protections established to safeguard prominent public art.The massive hand-painted mural spanned approximately 17,000 square feet across two walls of a downtown Dallas building.
Wyland`s lawsuit claims that tournament organizers, alongside the building’s ownership and management entities, acted hastily and irrevocably to deface a civic fixture that had stood for nearly three decades. Completed in 1999 and titled "Whaling Wall 82," the sprawling artwork was designed to raise awareness about ocean conservation and marine biology. Last month, when corporate painters began covering the historic piece with promotional graphics, local residents launched a public backlash to express solidarity with the artist`s ecological message. An online petition protesting the eradication of the public fixture quickly garnered more than 2,600 signatures from conservationists and community members. Wyland argues the defendants breached the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, a federal statute protecting acclaimed art from unauthorized destruction regardless of physical property ownership.
In response to the multi-million dollar litigation, FIFA has attempted to distance itself from the immediate controversy. A federation spokesperson indicated on Tuesday that the global governing body had no direct involvement in the physical modification of the wall, directing further inquiries to the tournament`s domestic organizing committee. Meanwhile, a representative for Slate Asset Management, the firm supervising the real estate, stated that local organizers requested the space in March for a new public art installation celebrating the international tournament. Slate emphasized that it received no financial compensation for donating the surface and had been assured by regional organizers that Wyland was fully notified beforehand. The local World Cup organizing committee later issued a statement declaring that a small segment of the original piece would be preserved, while the remaining space would host artwork reflecting the energy and global unity of the 2026 games.
The metropolitan area of Dallas is scheduled to play a central role in the upcoming co-hosted tournament, with nine matches slated for AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington. Wyland’s legal team has cited strong precedents for the case, including a landmark 2018 judicial ruling where a property owner was ordered to pay steep damages to New York graffiti artists after whitewashing their murals in Queens. Wyland has created more than 100 similar "Whaling Walls" globally to champion environmental preservation, making the sudden erasure of the Texas monument a significant flashpoint for public arts advocacy.
Source: AP
