Friedrich Stickler, president of the European Lotteries, said the Council of Europe Convention against the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, recently signed by the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers in Switzerland, “should enter into force as soon as possible. The dangers should not be minimalized and we have already lost enough time.” The Convention focuses on match fixing among other issues.
Twenty-seven member states of the European Union and the European Commission along with non-EU participating states recently agreed to the Convention’s definition of illegal sports betting. Only Malta did not agree to the definition.
“Sport plays a significant role in our societies, and it is of utmost importance to preserve it from fraudulent behaviors. As betting operators, lotteries strongly welcome in particular the provisions to fight against illegal betting as well as the clear definition of this illegal activity,” Stickler said.
European Lotteries also has requested the European Union to adopt a common definition of sports fraud as a criminal offense.
Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, stated, “The convention rightly addresses match fixing as a cross border issue that requires international cooperation. It is our hope that it will further set the tone for a more effective cooperation between all stakeholders to eradicate match fixing.”
Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the Remote Gambling Association, stated, “The Convention discussions were at times challenging, with pressure from some stakeholders to introduce a sports betting right and even blanket restrictions on certain bet types. The regulated betting sector worked hard to explain why measures of this kind would not make any material difference to the integrity of sport. What we have now is a relatively balanced and workable framework, which rightly seeks to reflect the range of existing national regulatory frameworks rather than replace them.”
Khalid Ali, Secretary General of European Sports Security Association, added, “ The Convention is principally focused on addressing the danger to sport and to the regulated betting markets from match fixing, which primarily emanates from organized international criminal gangs, corrupt sports people and the unregulated betting sector. As one of the potential victims of that criminal activity, the regulated betting sector welcomes the aims of the Convention. However, it is important that it does impose any unnecessary restrictions that could drive consumers to the unregulated markets.”
The three associations recently released a report on sports betting, which found that the “proposal that new markets, such as in-play (or live) betting, offered by regulated betting operators should be restricted or prohibited on sporting integrity grounds does not, given the weight of independent data, appear to be a policy generated from any firm evidence base.”
