Brazil signs Macolin Convention on sports manipulation and betting integrity
Regulation2 min read
In brief
- Brazil is due to sign the Macolin Convention in Strasbourg on 31 October, with ambassador Ricardo Neiva Tavares signing.
- The treaty covers information sharing, international alerts and cooperation on competition-fraud investigations.
- Brazil joins 50 other signatory countries; the convention entered into force in 2019.
Brazil is due to sign the Macolin Convention, a legally binding international treaty on combating the manipulation of sports results, at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 31 October, according to a report. The country's ambassador in France, Ricardo Neiva Tavares, is to sign the document. The report said the accession comes as Brazil has become a target for match-fixers, with the Federal Police investigating fraud schemes in basketball games in the main national tournaments.
With the accession, Brazil joins 50 other signatory countries to the convention, which entered into force in 2019. The treaty provides for the exchange of information between authorities and sports bodies, the issuing of international alerts and cooperation in investigating groups specialising in competition fraud. The report said the Macolin Convention also strengthens Brazil's regulatory framework for fixed-odds sports betting by setting global standards for sports integrity and the monitoring of suspicious betting patterns.
The request to join was made last year by the ministries of Sport, Finance, Justice and Foreign Affairs, and the process has now been completed, according to the report. The report said Brazil has not only suffered attacks from external match-fixers but has also exported cases to other countries. In 2024, Brazilians were identified fixing results in football matches in Finland, and last year investigations pointed to the manipulation of basketball games in prominent national tournaments, with suspicion of the involvement of a group of Serbians in the scheme, the report said.