Malta has requested the European Court of Justice’s opinion on the validity or otherwise of certain aspects of the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competition, proposals in favour of which were approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

Addressing a news conference, Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera said that Malta agreed with the aims of the convention which were primarily to combat manipulation.

However, it had reservations on certain dispositions which went over and above the objectives and aims of the convention.

The convention stated that illegal bets in sports should be those bets considered illegal by a country’s consumer legislation.

This definition could lead to certain operators licenced in Malta  to be considered illegal by other states although they were licenced and controlled by the country’s Gaming Authority.

Moreover, the illegal sports betting definition was not specifically aimed at operators involved in fraud in sports, Dr Herrera said.

He said that in May, Malta moved proposals for the disposition to be amended. It made its position clear throughout negotiations and last year wrote to the European Commission explaining its position. However, the definition remained unchanged.

Malta, Dr Herrera said, also sought legal expert advice.

He said the country’s objections were three - that the definition related exclusively to licencing and operator regulation, which was not the aim of the convention, that the definition went against EU treaties and regulations on free movement of services, and that the definition would harmonise industry regulations at a European level when the EU had no such regulations and this could impact on future EU regulations in the sector.