Glms contributes to hearing of the CoE Parliamentary Committee in view of upcoming Pace Report

Glms management team attended on october 1 the hearing of the committee on culture, science, education and media of the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

In view of the upcoming report of Mp Roland Büchel "Time to act: Europe’s political response to fighting the manipulation of sports competitions" (Doc. 14518), Glms General Secretary, Giancarlo Sergi and Glms Deputy General Secretary, Vagelis Alexandrakis had the chance to discuss with the rapporteur and key experts matters related to sport competition manipulations as well as the way forward for the Macolin Convention, following its entry into force on 1 September 2019. Giancarlo Sergi also joined a series of key experts from Fifa, Arjel, Interpol and the Portuguese Noc in addressing the participants of the Hearing of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Giancarlo Sergi delivered a presentation on the relevant activities of Glms. He also called for more ratifications of the Macolin Convention and attached emphasis on the necessity of education and prevention activities. Glms General Secretary Giancarlo Sergi stated “Lotteries and Glms have always shown their strong support to the Convention and look forward to further supporting the CoE with its promotion. Indeed, it is in the highest interest of the sports movement that the Macolin Convention is timely implemented”. Glms Deputy General Secretary, Vagelis Alexandrakis, added “We congratulate the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE, and notably the rapporteur, for the initiative of this report, which we hope will send out a strong message to states across the world for more ratifications. As the Convention Follow-Up Committee will have to be convened soon, it is of significance that states ensure their participation in it with full voting rights from the very beginning”. A draft of the report “Time to act: Europe’s political response to fighting the manipulation of sports competitions” (Doc. 14518) will be discussed in the next hearing of the Pace in December, while the full report is expected to be adopted by the Plenary in April 2020, just before the two significant mega events of the summer: the Uefa Euro 2020 and the Summer Olympics in Tokio. Related article: Lottery community calls for global action as Macolin Convention historically enters into force, available here.