Brazil’s Ministry of Sport moves one step closer to Macolin Convention accession

Brazil’s Ministry of Sport has taken another concrete step on the road to joining the Council of Europe’s Macolin Convention, after taking part in a key technical meeting on sports integrity held online from Strasbourg on 4–5 December.

On 4–5 December, the Brazilian Ministry of Sport participated in the technical meeting of the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, known as the Macolin Convention. The session was held virtually from Strasbourg, with Danilo Mendonça, General Coordinator of Economic Development in Sport and member of the Directorate of Integrity in Sports Betting, representing the ministry.

According to the Ministry, the Convention’s technical body issued a favourable assessment of Brazil’s request to accede to the treaty — a key milestone on the path to full membership, although not yet a final decision. The next step will be a political evaluation by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, expected in early 2026. If that review is positive, Brazil will be formally invited to join and will then need to complete domestic ratification procedures.

Denise Nóbrega, Director of Integrity in Sports Betting, said Brazil has been “consistently preparing to strengthen its sports integrity policies”, adding that progress toward accession shows the country is aligning with international best practices and taking a firmer stance against match manipulation. For the Ministry of Sport, joining the Macolin Convention would reinforce ongoing national measures against match-fixing and help build a coordinated integrity framework that includes regulators, law-enforcement agencies, sports bodies and licensed betting operators.