On 24-25th of September 2018, EU Athletes has taken part in the 3rd Macolin Conference organized by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The event brought together over 160 participants from 37 countries and 23 international stakeholders.
EU Athletes has been actively involved in the Macolin Process, particularly by coordinating and representing athlete and player organizations positions within the Sport Movement Group of actors. Paulina Tomczyk, the General Secretary of EU Athletes, who was present at the conference, chaired a workshop dedicated to the Sport Movement group of actors and addressed the participants in the final session to present athletes’ perspective:
“In the context of Erasmus+ project PROtect Integrity Plus, currently coordinated by EU Athletes, we focus strongly on prevention, education and reporting. Athlete organizations are doing their part of work but nobody can tackle match-fixing on their own. Experiences in different countries show that properly composed and operational National Platforms, with the active involvement of player unions, are truly beneficial for the fight against match-fixing. For this reason we are supportive of the efforts from Council of Europe and Group of Copenhagen in terms of national and international cooperation.”
During the conference, concrete priorities were identified, which will fuel the collective effort to be organised within the next phase of the “Macolin Roadmap”.