Finland to ratify the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions

The Ministry of Education and Culture will start preparations for ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (Macolin Convention). The purpose of this Convention is to combat the manipulation of sports competition by cooperation between the authorities, sports organisations and the betting sector.

In the view of Sandra Bergqvist, Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity, now is an opportune time to ratify the Convention. 

“Finland needs to step up its efforts to combat manipulation. We want to be at the forefront of this work. For this reason, ratification of the Convention is important,” says Bergqvist.

Finland played an instrumental role in the creation of the Convention and was one of the first countries in 2014 to sign it. Earlier, the question of the EU's competence was an obstacle to the ratification of the Convention. However, according to an opinion based on the Istanbul Convention delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2021, legal obstacles are no longer present.  

The Convention entered into force in 2019 and has been signed by 43 countries, 14 of which have ratified it. The most recent country to ratify the Convention was Sweden. A national action group against manipulation operating under the Convention already exists in Finland, led by the Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (FINCIS). 

Inquiries: 
-    Satu Heikkinen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 330 102