07/03/2012 Culture, Science, Education and Media
Strasbourg, 07.03.2012 – Harmonised laws to combat ‘match-fixing’ came a step closer yesterday when a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously called on the Council of Europe’s 47 member states to draw up a convention – or binding international treaty – against match-fixing and illegal betting.
PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, meeting in Paris, said the need for such a legal instrument was now “urgent”. It pointed out that the manipulation of results and illicit profits from sports betting “jeopardise public order and the rule of law”.
In a draft recommendation, based on a report by Anne Brasseur (Luxembour, ALDE), the committee noted that a “feasibility study” into a possible convention, finalised last month by Council of Europe experts, could form the basis for fresh laws.
Listing a series of specific measures to combat match-fixing that could be taken in the meantime, the committee also proposed a ban on betting in competitions “vulnerable to attempted corruption”, such as lower-division professional football matches and under-18 or amateur competitions.
It also called for “sports fraud” be made a criminal offence, more work with betting operators to identify suspicious bets, and training for young athletes in the risks of accepting money for altering their performance.