The Council of Europe (CoE) has called for the ratification of an outstanding convention on the manipulation of sports competitions, known as the Macolin convention, by remaining Member States.
At a speech in Brussels this week, Gabriella Battaini-Dragon, deputy Secretary-General of the CoE, said “Its ratification and entry into force are now urgent.”
Her speech came after a raft of low-level match fixing scandals in Tennis, with an investigation finding that found that 464 professionals said they had first-hand knowledge of match-fixing out of more than 3200 who were surveyed.
The scope of the convention is wide, and includes match-fixing, using clubs as shell companies, influencing player agents, athletes, use of insider information, conflict of interests, illegal betting and bad governance.
The convention was first adopted by the CoE in 2014 but only 29 of its 47 member states has signed it and three have ratified.
Almost all EU Member States have said they intend to sign the it, and some are already compliant with its objectives and principles, but ratification is currently blocked at the institutional EU level.
