The boldest step that any European institution took towards combatting the fight against match-fixing came about in 2014 when the Council of Europe launched the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Convention’).
The Macolin Convention is a qualitative response by the Council of Europe to the phenomenon of match-fixing.
It is the result of the European Union and the Council of Europe’s efforts to deal with this threat along the years gone by. Following the obtainment of the required five ratifications, the Convention will now eagerly come into force on September 1, 2019.
The twin aims of such Convention are to prevent, detect and sanction national or transnational manipulation of national or transnational sports competitions and to promote national and international co-operation against the manipulation of sports competitions.
The Convention allows commonly agreed standards and principles to be set in order to prevent, detect and sanction the manipulation of sports competitions.
More specifically, the Convention seeks to deal with prevention, law enforcement, international co-operation measures and exchange of information.
The Convention provides common definitions, as well as unique international co-operation mechanisms, such as the “National Platforms. It also seeks to serve as a common reference point for various key actors, amongst them ministries, betting stakeholders, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, who are all committed to the common aim of fighting sport manipulations and corruption.
One key component of the Convention is the National Platforms (known as “the Group of Copenhagen”) which was established by the Council of Europe in 2016.
Such Group of Copenhagen is contributing significantly towards on-going developments concerning the Convention and is currently identifying the modus operandi used by manipulators.
These platforms are strategically key mechanisms for all national stakeholders to work together to render their legislative framework and policies compliant with the Convention.
It facilitates enhanced relations between actors, exchanging experiences and good practices, improving the efficiency and functioning of the National Platforms and connecting them transnationally.
This group has led to improving the global dynamism in the fight against manipulation of sports competitions, with stakeholders being more aware of the importance of fighting such phenomenon collectively, endorsing their willingness to work together and eagerness to find new ways to proceed and to create new synergies.
Private stakeholders, authorities as well as international organisations are also recognised as having a pivotal role to play, particularly where disciplinary sanctions and exchanges of information are concerned. Sports betting operators and lottery operators are recognised as partners in the prevention and exchange of information of illicit activities surrounding bets.
One important point to make is that the scope of the Convention is not to reform the organisation of the international betting market. It simply provides means for implementing concrete measures on a global scale.
The manipulation of sports competitions is a problem with a global dimension, thus requiring that all relevant actors accept to cooperate in order to reduce the attack on sport competitions of various manipulations.
As a matter of fact, such convention is also open for signing and ratification to countries who are not members of the Council of Europe.
This is done to ensure that it reaches a broader spectrum of stakeholders.
It is paramount that countries and national stakeholders understand that aligning interests and undertaking collective actions towards achieving common results will ultimately be more successful than individual efforts in their own fields with regards to such a great phenomenon.
Willingness to co-operate implies that stakeholders accept to work together within specific structures based on concrete agreements and processes.
This includes sharing and exchanging of information, making actions more cost-effective and more efficient.
Such cooperation should be to the widest extent possible, such as, amongst others, investigations, prosecutions and judicial proceedings.
When nations sign international conventions, they do so because their authorities believe that it is in the interests of the people they represent.
Sports are the aspect of civil society in which the largest numbers of people are involved: competitors, organisers and, of course, the millions of supporters and spectators who follow them.
They are a leveller, in which people from backgrounds of all kinds can connect to one another. This convention is all about equality, honesty and integrity.
The Macolin Convention is therefore very much desired in order to set standards and impose a unified legislative framework in the fight against sports manipulation and money-laundering, whilst at the same time providing a more effective supervision by the authorities responsible for betting markets and minimise the illegal betting markets.
It is now vital that the priorities identified throughout the Convention are worked on and developed further by all stakeholders involved to jointly continue combatting the peril of match fixing.
Dr Robert Dingli is a sports lawyer and President of the Malta Association of Sports Lawyers (MASL)