Speaking at the opening of the conference, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, stressed the need for a unified approach to integrity in sport to address challenges: “there will be no progress on match-fixing unless governments agree to, and implement, a common legal framework, allowing justice to operate across borders; no progress on doping unless each and every country, and the big international actors, get behind a clear and consistent division of responsibilities, which reduces the possibility of conflicts of interests; and there will be no progress at all unless national authorities and the sports movement can agree on a single, recognised set of principles to guide governance structures.”
European Sport Ministers are meeting on Tuesday 29 November in Budapest (Hungary) at a conference organised by the Council of Europe under its Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), aimed at more effectively combating doping, promoting implementation of the Convention on match-fixing and fostering good governance in sport.
The Ministers will debate these issues, among others, at the conference which will conclude with a signing ceremony for the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions and the Convention on an integrated safety, security and service approach at football matches and other sports events, as well as a protocol of agreement between the Council of Europe and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
