Spain has officially joined the Macolin Convention – a legal instrument and the only rule of international law on the manipulation of sports competitions in Europe.
The country’s national gambling regulator (DGOJ) detailed that the convention has been signed between the nation’s ambassador and permanent representative and the Council of Europe.
Spain subsequently ratified the convention on 17 October. The convention will come into force on 1 February 2025, and the move has been described by the regulator as a “fundamental step” in the fight against sports manipulation.
“This is a fundamental step for Spain in the fight against sports manipulation and the safeguarding of the integrity of sport, placing Spain among the pioneering countries in the eradication of this scourge,” DGOJ’s statement read in full.
DGOJ hopes that Spain – now the 12th country in the convention – will build on the role the country’s National Commission to Combat the Manipulation of PSorts Competition and Betting Fraud (CONFAD) is playing.
CONFAD is a collegiate body attached to the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, and has been working with public authorities, the regulator, the Higher Sports Council and law enforcement representatives.
Building on this, the Macolin Convention – this name being a shortened form of its full name of Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions – requires public authorities to cooperate with sports organisations, betting operators and competition owners to prevent and detect sports manipulation.
The convention proposes a common legal framework for an efficient international cooperation to respond to match manipulation and protect sports integrity. It entered into effect on 1 September, and prior to Spain’s signature has been ratified by France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Moldova, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Spain’s ratification of the convention further builds up the country’s extensive regulation of both its betting and sports industries. The relationship between the two is closely monitored, with shirt sponsorship deals, such as those seen in the UK, notably prohibited.