Council of Europe: 15 countries have signed the convention against match-fixing

Fifteen countries have signed for the The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, which was opened for signature today at a ceremony held during the Conference of European Ministers of Sport in Macolin/Magglingen (Switzerland) on 18/09/2014.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Serbia and Switzerland pledged to ratify the Convention, whose purpose is "to prevent, detect and punish the manipulation of sports competitions under both criminal law and disciplinary provisions and to increase information exchange and national and international co-operation both between the public authorities concerned and with sports organisations and sports betting operators, who, moreover, contributed to its drafting."

“This convention is a major step forward for integrity, ethics and transparency in sport,” said Council of Europe secretary general Thorbjørn Jagland, who called on all governments to sign and ratify it speedily.

The convention is open to Council of Europe member…