The fight against the manipulation of sports competitions: The Macolin Convention

The manipulation of sport competitions appears to be a phenomenon as old as time, with the first documented cases dating back to the ancient Olympic and Nemean Games in the 3rd and 2nd centuries before Christ respectively (Constandt & Manoli, 2023). While in both cases the sport competition that is being manipulated is boxing, one of the most popular sports at that time, the individuals who appear to be the fixers differ. In the case of the ancient Olympics, it was Eupolos of Thessaly, the returning Olympian caught bribing his opponents to lose, while in the case of the Nemean Games it was the coaches of the athletes who were manipulating the matches between their players. While time passed and sport developed into a multi-billion industry, this old phenomenon appears to be anything but obsolete in modern-day sport. Indeed, in recent years, and due to the proliferation of media outlets and the growing interest in sport, we have become aware of multiple cases of manipulation of sport, with high-profile scandals involving not only highly commercialized sport, such as football, cricket, and tennis, but also less commercialized sport such as chess and snooker (Manoli, 2018). At the same time, the exponential growth of the betting market is also accredited for being one of the driving forces of the manipulation of sport competitions, with betting rates acting as both the drivers and the rewards for match-fixing. The rapid technological developments and the widespread globalization that have also occurred have allowed for the betting market to develop and be available worldwide, enabling both its legal and most importantly its illegal branches to expand, covering multiple sports and at different levels of professionalisation (Manoli, 2018). All the above have made the manipulation of sport competitions a widespread, multifaceted and complex phenomenon, which is consequently difficult to identify and challenge. The impetus for the Macolin Convention arose from a growing recognition of the pervasive problem of match-fixing and corruption in sports, which undermines the integrity of sports and public confidence in their outcomes (Constandt & Manoli, 2023). As such, the Macolin Convention emerged as a response for a structured and consistent fight against the manipulation of sport competitions, not only in individual countries, but across all members of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is a significant human rights organization that encompasses 46 member states, 27 of which are members of the European Union. However, before we discuss the Macolin Convention and the role that the Council of Europe played for it to be drafted, signed, and ultimately ratified, it is worth examining the role that the manipulation of sport competitions had in the policy agenda of the European Union (EU).