Gambling regulation in Spain: DGOJ hails entry into Macolin Convention

Spain has become the 12th country to ratify the convention on sports manipulation in Europe.

Spain.- The Spanish gambling regulator, the DGOJ, has announced that Spain has joined the Macolin Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, an international legal instrument designed to fight sports manipulation in Europe. Spain is the 12th country to ratify the convention.

The DGOJ said the convention had been signed between the Council of Europe and Spain’s ambassador and permanent representative on October 17. The convention will come into effect on February 1 2025.

The regulator said in a statement: “This is a fundamental step in the fight against sports manipulation and to safeguard the integrity of sport, placing Spain among the countries pioneering the eradication of this ill.”

The Macolin Convention requires authorities to work with sports organisations, betting operators and competition organisers to prevent and identify sports manipulation. Outlining a legal framework through which to respond to the issue, it has been signed by France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Spain’s work against match manipulation

Spain already has a national commission against sports manipulation and betting fraud named CONFAD, which is linked to the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030. In July, the DGOJ adopted the resolutions of Spain’s new centralised directive against match-fixing, which requires all operators with licences for horseracing or sports betting to join the Global Betting Market Investigation Service (SIGMA) and make its whistleblower portal available to staff.

DGOJ director general Mikel Arana said that a duty to use SIGMA would be added to the conditions of Spanish gambling licences, requiring all operators to “report irregular or suspicious sports bets immediately”. Operators must also “respond immediately to requests for any information deemed necessary in relation to the alerts entered into the service”.

SIGMA was created under amendments to Spain’s 2011 Gambling Act passed in October 2022. The centrally controlled database provides a view of the betting market for vigilance against match-fixing and allows registered bodies to cooperate against match-fixing and fraud by processing personal data. 

The programme has support from Spain’s Higher Sports Council, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the Professional Football League, the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation and the Association of Spanish Footballers as well as from police. The objective is to create a ‘cooperative network against criminal activity and to protect the integrity of Spanish sports against potential match-fixing’.