Council of Europe Warns on World Cup Betting and Prediction Markets

The Council of Europe has warned that betting and in-stadium prediction markets at the 2026 FIFA World Cup are "an open door to fraud," and its Secretary General Alain Berset is urging FIFA to start building a binding integrity framework now, before the 2030 tournament is played. In a statement issued as the final whistle approached on 19 July 2026, Berset argued that betting has shifted from wagering on the result of a match to wagering on isolated moments a single player can control, a change he says makes football more vulnerable to manipulation than at any previous World Cup.

The intervention lands at a sensitive moment for the industry. This was the first World Cup in which FIFA welcomed a prediction market, the Gibraltar-licensed and blockchain-based ADI PredictStreet, as an official partner inside the stadiums themselves. Berset framed that decision, and a high-profile instance of political pressure on FIFA during the tournament, as evidence that the guardrails around the game are not keeping pace with how money now moves through it.

What did the Council of Europe actually say?

The Council of Europe said the 2026 World Cup exposed three integrity threats at once: the reach of modern betting, the arrival of prediction markets inside stadiums, and political interference in sporting decisions. Berset, a former President of Switzerland who became Secretary General of the Council of Europe in 2024, delivered the message in a portal statement titled "Before the final whistle," published as Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the New Jersey final.

His core argument is that the betting product itself has changed. "Betting has moved from the result of a match to moments a single player can produce," Berset said, calling that shift "an open door to fraud." The concern is micro-betting and player-specific markets, where a single throw-in, card or missed pass can be wagered on and, in theory, arranged, without changing which team wins.

Why are prediction markets central to the warning?

Prediction markets are central because, for the first time, one sat inside the official FIFA tent rather than outside it. Berset singled out FIFA's decision to welcome a prediction market as an official partner "inside the stadiums themselves," a reference to ADI PredictStreet, the blockchain-based platform that ran event contracts on tournament outcomes.

Prediction markets let users trade yes or no contracts on whether an event will happen, and their legal status sits in a grey zone between financial trading and gambling. That ambiguity is exactly why regulators are nervous: a market can offer exposure to sporting outcomes while sidestepping the licensing, integrity-sharing and anti-money-laundering duties that a licensed sportsbook carries. iGaming Daily News has tracked the sector's rapid expansion, from Gibraltar's move to launch dedicated prediction markets regulation to ADI PredictStreet's rollout across regulated countries.

What is the "third half" Berset is proposing?

The "third half" is Berset's phrase for a working dialogue between the Council of Europe and FIFA that starts immediately rather than after the next scandal. "A working dialogue that starts tonight, to build the integrity framework of the 2030 World Cup before it is played," is how he described it.

The logic is preventive. Rather than reacting to a fixing case or a payments crisis once it has already damaged public trust, Berset wants the rules for 2030, when the World Cup is co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, agreed while there is still time to write them into binding form.

What is the Macolin Convention and why does it matter here?

The Macolin Convention is the Council of Europe's Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, and it remains the only binding international treaty aimed specifically at match-fixing. Formally known as CETS No. 215, it entered into force on 1 September 2019 and requires public authorities to cooperate with sports bodies, betting operators and competition organisers to prevent, detect and sanction the manipulation of sporting events.

According to the Council of Europe, 17 states have ratified the convention, including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine, while a further group of European states has signed it, alongside non-European parties Australia and Morocco. Berset described it as "still the only binding treaty against the rigging of games," which is precisely why he is invoking it: the framework already exists, but its reach and enforcement have not caught up with player-prop betting and prediction markets.

How does this compare with past Council of Europe interventions in sport?

The Council of Europe has a four-decade record of answering sporting crises with binding treaties, and Berset is explicitly placing betting integrity in that lineage. Each previous convention followed a specific shock to the game.

Council of Europe sport convention	Trigger	Reach cited by the Council of Europe
Safety at sports events (post-1985)	Heysel Stadium disaster	39 states
Anti-Doping Convention	Doping crisis in sport	52 states
Macolin Convention (in force 2019)	Match-fixing and betting manipulation	43 states

The Council of Europe has 46 member states. Berset's point is that the organisation has repeatedly turned a crisis into enforceable rules, and that betting and prediction markets are the next such test.

What was the political interference Berset flagged?

Berset warned that a suspended sanction during the tournament "came after a head of state called the president of FIFA," a reference to reported contact between the United States and FIFA President Gianni Infantino over a disciplinary decision involving a player. He did not frame this as a betting issue directly, but as part of the same erosion of trust: "When the rules bend under pressure, every result is open to doubt," he said. For integrity officials, unpredictable decision-making is itself a betting risk, because any doubt over whether a result or sanction was clean feeds the suspicion that markets can be moved.

How is the betting industry likely to respond?

Established, licensed operators are likely to welcome tighter integrity rules that fall hardest on unregulated rivals, while prediction-market platforms will resist being folded into gambling frameworks. Licensed sportsbooks already fund and feed integrity-monitoring bodies, and many privately view prediction markets as competitors that capture betting-style demand without the same compliance burden.

Prediction-market operators, by contrast, argue they are trading venues rather than bookmakers. The tension is not theoretical: iGaming Daily News has reported on suppliers such as Light and Wonder urging US states to choke off prediction-market payments, and on jurisdictions including the Czech Republic moving to block platforms outright. A Council of Europe push to standardise integrity duties across both categories would sharpen that fight.

What are the key facts at a glance?

• The 2026 World Cup was the first at which a prediction market, ADI PredictStreet, was an official FIFA partner inside stadiums, per the Council of Europe.
• The Macolin Convention entered into force on 1 September 2019 and is the only binding international treaty against match-fixing.
• 17 states have ratified the Macolin Convention and a wider group has signed it, including Australia and Morocco, according to the Council of Europe.
• The Council of Europe has 46 member states and cites earlier sport treaties reaching 39 states (stadium safety) and 52 states (anti-doping).
• Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the final on 19 July 2026, the day Berset issued his statement.

Why does the timing matter for 2030?

The timing matters because the 2030 World Cup will be spread across three continents, which multiplies the number of regulators, betting markets and legal regimes any integrity framework must bind together. A tournament co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with matches in South America, cannot be policed by a single national gambling regulator. Berset's argument is that the coordination work has to begin years ahead, not in the weeks before kickoff, which is why he wants dialogue to start "tonight."

What happens next?

Nothing is binding yet. Berset's statement is a political call to action, not a new regulation, and any formal framework would need FIFA's engagement and, most likely, agreement among Council of Europe member states. The practical next steps to watch are whether FIFA publicly responds to the "third half" proposal, whether the Council of Europe convenes a working group on prediction markets, and whether existing Macolin Convention parties move to extend the treaty's scope to cover player-prop betting and event contracts.

"Betting has moved from the result of a match to moments a single player can produce. It is an open door to fraud." Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

The bottom line

The Council of Europe is signalling that football's betting economy has outgrown the rules written to govern it, and it is using the Macolin Convention as both a precedent and a warning. Whether FIFA takes up the "third half" invitation will shape how prediction markets and micro-betting are treated at the next World Cup, and whether the industry writes those rules with regulators or has them imposed after the next crisis.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Council of Europe say about World Cup betting?

Secretary General Alain Berset warned that betting and in-stadium prediction markets at the 2026 World Cup are "an open door to fraud" and called for a binding integrity framework to be built before the 2030 tournament.

What is the Macolin Convention?

It is the Council of Europe's Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, the only binding international treaty against match-fixing. It entered into force on 1 September 2019 and requires cooperation between public authorities, sports bodies and betting operators.

Why is FIFA linked to prediction markets in this story?

The 2026 World Cup was the first at which FIFA welcomed a prediction market, ADI PredictStreet, as an official partner inside stadiums, which the Council of Europe cited as a new integrity risk.

What is Berset's "third half" proposal?

It is his term for an immediate working dialogue between the Council of Europe and FIFA to design the integrity framework for the 2030 World Cup in advance, rather than reacting after a scandal.

Is any of this legally binding yet?

No. Berset's statement is a call to action. Any new framework would require FIFA's engagement and agreement among Council of Europe member states before it could take binding form.

Updated July 2026. Reporting based on the Council of Europe statement "Before the final whistle" and coverage by SBC News, with treaty detail from the Council of Europe.