Nicosia declaration on the fight against match-fixing
Match-fixing constitutes one of the most serious threats to contemporary sport, undermining the fundamental values of integrity, fair play and respect for others. It is a growing and pressing problem affecting many Member States and many sports. Addressing the issue requires urgent, concerted, and coordinated efforts from public authorities, the sport movement and betting operators. The fight against match-fixing necessitates effective and sustained action in the following five key areas:
Education, Prevention and Good Governance
Initiatives in these areas should target all actors in the field of sport, including athletes, their entourage, referees, match officials, supporters and management.
Monitoring
Efficient monitoring and detection mechanisms should be further developed and sharing of relevant information among stakeholders should be improved.
Sanctions
Dissuasive, effective and proportionate sanctions, including criminal and disciplinary sanctions, should be in place and enforced in match-fixing cases. Prosecution of serious match-fixing cases, and notably of those with crossborder implications, should be prioritised.
Cooperation
Cooperation among all the interested parties, including public authorities, law enforcement agencies, sport stakeholders and betting operators should be reinforced.
International coordination
The global scale of match-fixing requires enhanced coordination of all the efforts undertaken by the relevant parties at both European and international level.
Nicosia declaration on the fight against match-fixing
