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Council of Europe targets FIFA over prediction market deal
The Council of Europe has targeted FIFA over its partnership with prediction market platforms, accusing the association of risking the World Cup’s integrity framework and opening the door to fraud.
In an open letter published on July 19, 2026, coinciding with the World Cup final, the Council of Europe urged FIFA to strengthen the integrity of the tournament and develop new safeguards before the 2030 event. Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, warned that FIFA must protect football from the crisis that involves power and money.
Berset commented:
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 has raised question after question. The celebration will end tonight. The questions will not. Betting has moved from the result of a match to moments a single player can produce without changing the score. A bet is won by making others lose. It is an open door to fraud. And this World Cup has opened the door wider.”
The criticism comes after FIFA entered the prediction market sector with a Predictstreet deal, with authorities now concerned about how supervision of live and player-linked trades would be conducted, as well as how information sharing and alerts on suspicious bets would work in practice.
Berset concluded his remarks by urging the beginning of a working dialogue to create a better integrity framework for sports before future World Cups.
The French gambling regulator (ANJ) has required internet service providers (ISPs) to block users’ access to Polymarket after the prediction market platform was found to have...
