Manipulation of sports events

Attempts may be made to manipulate sports events because of betting. In betting, the final result depends on the result of a competition or event. So, a party involved in a sports event, such as a player and a judge, may have an opportunity to influence the outcome of the betting.

An attempt may be made to influence the outcome of the betting or a specific event, for example by paying a player or a judge. This will result in a pre-determined outcome that has been betted on. This is often called match fixing.

Securing gambling payouts may be a reason behind the manipulation of sports events. For that reason, the supervision of gambling services plays an important role in preventing, investigating and detecting abuses related to match fixing.

The Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (the Macolin Convention) entered into force on 1 September 2019. One of the key objectives of the Convention is to intensify the detection, prevention and investigation of match fixing and to promote international cooperation. Finland has signed the Convention and is in the process of ratifying it.