Council of Europe adopts recommendation on match-fixing

According to a press release from the Council of Europe, the adoption of the new recommendation against match-fixing could open the door to a legally binding international convention which would strengthen the commitments of states on the issue. 

The recommendation acknowledges the autonomy of sport on one hand, but at the same time it calls for more international cooperation between the government, betting operators and the sports movement and the implementation of effective good governance policies in the sports organisations. 

Directing its advice towards the governments, the Council of Europe recommends that all of its member states adopt policies and a number of concrete measures aimed at preventing and combating the manipulation of results in all sports. 

Support from UEFA
The recommendation is welcomed by UEFA President Michel Platini, who met the council after the adoption of the recommendation on 28 September.

"European football is afraid, and I think I can even say that European sport as a whole is afraid. The growth of betting-related match-fixing is alarming," he said, sharing the Council’s worry that match-fixing is increasingly controlled by criminal organisations.

"This is why I believe the Council of Europe now needs to intervene. It needs to intervene in order to encourage its member states to criminalise sports fraud and it needs to act in order to promote the indispensable cooperation between public authorities and sports governing bodies required in this regard. It is a question of responsibility, a question of ethics, a question of justice," Platini said.

Read the press release from the Council of Europe.

Read the recommendation.

Read UEFA’s press release on Platini’s speech.