As delivered by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Secretary of State for Sport, dear Pedro,

President of FC Porto, dear André,

Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of the IOC, dear Paquerette,

Chair of the Follow-up Committee to the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, dear George,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Sports have the capacity to unite and inspire people –

Sports give us moments of joy that we will never forget.

At their best, sports are open and honest, safe and inclusive –

And it is this sense of integrity that underpins people’s faith in our athletes and in competitions.

When that faith is fractured, sports suffer.

We all suffer.

That is why we, in the Council of Europe, have focused so much on bringing integrity to sports – to bring in a human rights and rule of law approach to sports.

We adopted the first ever international Anti-doping text in the 1960s –

And a Convention on Spectator Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports Events in the 1980s which led the way to our Saint-Denis Convention thirty years later –

And of course the Macolin Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions in 2014 –

And today we celebrate the Macolin Convention’s tenth anniversary -

Acknowledging that it is the only legally binding international instrument in its field.

Over the past decade, the Macolin Convention, in practice, has done enormous good.

Laws have been passed for the proper definition and criminalisation of manipulation and illegal betting and regulations have been tightened –

Including the adoption of legislation by France in the run-up to this year’s Olympics.

The number of national platforms that facilitate the exchange of ideas, information and good practice has expanded –

With Iceland and our hosts Portugal working now to build the capacities of their platforms, with Council of Europe support.

And we have more and better co-operation with international partners.

Including a training programme developed with the support of UEFA –

Joint education initiatives with the IOC, some carried out during the Olympic Games themselves –

And work with Interpol in advance of its annual match-fixing task force meeting in Prague next week.

There are also challenges to overcome.

Addressing match-fixing simply has not been a priority for some countries.

And, as a result, there is a lack of specific criminalisation, too few effective sanctions, and a lack of investment in addressing this issue –

This has resulted in still too few ratifications – just eleven to date –

Emboldening organised crime with a sense of impunity.

It remains the case that the best way for national authorities to address all this is to ratify the
Macolin Convention.

Dear friends,

The good news is that there is momentum on which to build.

After several years of relative quiet, more countries are joining.

In the last year alone, France, Belgium and Lithuania have all taken the positive step of acceding to the Macolin Convention –

And, I am delighted to say that Spain will do the same in a few days –

With more expected to follow.

Countries in Europe and around the world are showing interest because they see that the threat of manipulation is only growing greater –

And whether they are planning to host a major sporting event –

Or opening sports betting markets –

They see international co-operation as the best chance of preserving the integrity of their competitions.

They clearly see the value of the Macolin Convention.

Your insights about the obstacles that you have encountered over the past ten years and the challenges we are now facing –

And how we will overcome them –

Can only help us as we all move forward together.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Happy 10th anniversary!

Thank you for your attention.