Back Macolin Week in Strasbourg: First “Day of Controversies” deepened debate on competition manipulation

Macolin Week in Strasbourg: First “Day of Controversies” deepened debate on competition manipulation

From 3 to 5 December 2025, the Council of Europe organised “Macolin Week” in Strasbourg, bringing together three key events:

  • the 9th meeting of the Group of Copenhagen,
  • a joint conference including a dedicated “Controversies” session, and
  • the 11th meeting of the Follow-up Committee to the Macolin Convention.

The “Controversies” day was the centrepiece of the week. For the first time, members and observers of both committees, public authorities, regulators, law enforcement and judicial services, betting stakeholders, sports organisations and investigative journalists met in a structured format designed to foster open, cross-sector dialogue.

The meetings of the Group of Copenhagen and the Follow-up Committee complemented these discussions by reviewing recent cases, national and international developments, and the implementation of the Macolin Convention. The Copenhagen Group notably agreed to set up a Working Group on Artificial Intelligence. The Follow-up Committee, for its part, continued its work on country assessments and the development of guidance, including on reasonnable betting and illegal betting.

Together, these three events strengthened the “Macolin community” and helped define shared priorities to better protect the integrity of sport in the years ahead.

Macolin Week also featured elections in both committees for a two-year term:

  • Group of Copenhagen (GoC): Samuel WAHLBERG (Sweden) was elected President and Rute SOARES (Portugal) Vice-President, with new Bureau members Oscar PEREZ PENA (Spain), Ioannis IAVOKIDIS (Greece), Simon PEDERSEN HORKJAER (Denmark), Nick OLIVER (United Kingdom) and James MOLLER (Australia).
  • Follow-up Committee (T-MC): Kornelija TIESNESYTE (Lithuania) was elected President and Patrick EICHENBERG (Switzerland) Vice-President, with Bureau members Eirik Haugen TYSSE (Norway), Dragan ATANASOV (Serbia) and Maria DIMOPOULOU (Greece).

Congratulations to all those elected!

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Strasbourg, France 3-5 December 2025
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