The Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion (the “Council”) held “Sports Ecosystem Symposium 2025” at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Shibusawa Hall on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Approximately 400 people attended the symposium, including member companies, sports organizations, government agencies, Diet members, and media companies. Thank you very much for visiting the venue.

In the symposium, the Council announced that, according to the results of its investigation of overseas sports-betting websites, the Illegal Cross-Border Market in Japan and the Freeride Market are estimated to be worth approximately 6.5-trillion yen and 4.9-trillion yen, respectively, and it provided a breakdown of the scale of those markets by major sports (please refer to this link for details). The Council also revealed the fact that some overseas sports-betting websites accessible from Japan provide services in a manner that may infringe upon copyrights, likeness rights, publicity rights, and other rights.

On top of that, a panel discussion was held between Mr. Takeshi Matsuda (former Chairman of the JOC’s Athlete Committee), Councilor Yoshikazu Nonomura (Chairman of the J.League), Councilor Shinji Shimada (Chairman of the B.League), and Councilor Yuki Ota (IOC Member). Based on the current situation of illegal sports betting and freeriding, they stressed the need for Japan to sign and ratify the “Macolin Convention,” which provided the world’s first legal framework for promoting a system of international cooperation to deal with the problem of manipulation in sports competitions, and the need to establish a national platform (NP) in Japan from the perspective of athletes and sports organizations, and they succeeded in creating great momentum.

In addition, from the Council of Europe, Mr. Nicolas Saydé visited Japan for the symposium, and Mr. Corentin Segalen (Chair of the Group of Copenhagen) and Mr. Christian Kalb (Managing Director, CK Consulting) attended the symposium online as speakers. These three speakers gave lectures on the international significance of the Macolin Convention and how we should prevent manipulation and corruption in sports through international cooperation, including specific initiatives in Europe, and they also discussed what the NP in Japan should look like during a panel discussion and commented that they would fully cooperate in the development of relevant systems in Japan in the future.

Finally, a dialogue was also held between Councilor Toshikazu Yamaguchi (Representative Director President, The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings) and Mr. Saydé, and Councilor Yamaguchi explained the Japanese professional baseball world’s efforts to eliminate anti-social forces. Through the dialogue, they reaffirmed the need to strengthen international cooperation in Japan and the significance of promoting the development of relevant systems in Japan aiming to establish the NP.

In order to protect and promote fairness and impartiality in sports, the Council will continue to work with relevant organizations in Japan and overseas to promote initiatives related to measures against illegal sports betting and measures to prevent manipulation/corruption.

International Cooperation for Preventing Manipulation/Corruption in Sports and Protecting Athletes; Japan’s Issues
—Based on the Macolin Convention—

Organizer: The Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion

Supporter: Council of Europe

Purpose of event: To discuss the future direction for Japan while sharing the need and urgency for advancing global-standard measures in order for each stakeholder involved in the issue of illegal sports betting to deepen their understanding of the current situation and protect athletes from the risk of manipulation, etc.

Details of press release:https://council-sep.org/en/news/20250514/