Preserving the integrity of sports competitions: a new step forward

Ratified by France in December 2022, the “Macolin Convention” enables the State to strengthen its measures to ensure the integrity and sincerity of sports competitions held on its soil. A subject of particular relevance a few months away from the Paris 2024 Olympics, said Clémence Cathelain-Collon, Doctor of Law, research assistant at the IRJS-Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Member of the Sport and Citizenship Think Tank Scientific Committee.

In October 2014, France was one of the first countries to sign the Council of Europe Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions, known as the “Macolin Convention”, but it has taken nearly ten years to ratify this legally-binding international tool. On 21 June 2023, France officially became the 9th State to ratify the Convention after Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Moldavia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Iceland, to take effect on 1st October 2023.

A tool for the integrity of sports competitions

The Macolin Convention is the first international tool specifically dealing with everything that could be construed as match-fixing. It complements two other UN conventions ratified by France against transnational Organised Crime and Corruption.

According to Article 3.4 of the Macolin Convention, a manipulation of a sports competition is defined as: “an intentional arrangement, act or omission intended to improperly alter the outcome or conduct of a sports competition in order to eliminate some or all of the unpredictability of that competition for the purpose of obtaining an undue advantage for oneself or for another person”. This fraud can be carried out for sporting reasons or linked to sports betting.

The Convention is composed of 41 articles and is divided into 5 main themes: prevention, punishment, international cooperation, information exchange and Convention follow-up. The legal text makes combating the manipulation of sports competitions a distinct legal concept and a distinct realm of competence, and provides a harmonised definition of the phenomenon within the legal framework of the State. It presents itself as a legal framework for international cooperation for ratifying States and also cooperation between public authorities and private entities, like betting operators and sporting bodies.

Early implementation of the Convention

France did not wait for the law on 12 December 2022, allowing the ratification of the Macolin Convention, to implement the majority of its proposals.

One of the most important advances is the legal backing for the National Platform for combating match-fixing. Foreshadowed by article 13 of the Macolin Convention, the Platform created by a convention between members – public authorities, sports organisations and betting operators – in 2016, was attached to articles L.335-1 to L.335-5 of the Sports Code by the law of 2 March 2022, aiming to democratise sport in France. Its brief is to gather, save and share information which can be used to combat manipulation of sports competitions, as well as to encourage cooperation with national and international stakeholders and raising awareness among everyone involved in sport. The members of the platform are bound by the duty of confidentiality and they are forbidden to engage in sports betting. The specific mission of the National Gaming Authority (ANJ) of monitoring sports betting is also evoked. Further details on the composition and functioning of the platform were added by the decree on 29 December 2023.

A strong signal on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympics

Although the Convention does not have a direct effect in that it does not create law that can be used by individuals, France is determined to implement all the provisions and accept it as legally binding. Ratifying the Convention allows France to join the Macolin Convention Follow-Up Committee, charged with monitoring its good implementation.

The State is thus strengthened in fighting for the integrity and sincerity of sports competitions on its soil, offering a framework of protection and raised awareness to all those involved in sport, on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games!

This article was published in the magazine Sport and Citizenship n°57 : protecting sport integrity