WBSC Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions Rules updated

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has revised its Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions (PMC) Rules to more closely align with Olympic Agenda 2020+5.

Approved on 24 May 2023, the latest update to the WBSC PMC Rules reflects the IOC’s latest review of the PMC Code which is part of the Olympic Charter. 

The WBSC PMC Rules were first approved in 2021 and replaced the WBSC Sport Betting By-Laws in 2022, which had become the first document to cover one aspect of the PMC in 2017.

The latest update sees several clarifications and changes to the rules with one of the main aims to be clearer with terminology and definitions.

This includes clarification on the scope of the code, which previously caused some confusion as it included the prohibition of betting activities on both the participant’s competition and sport. It will now only refer to the participant’s sport.

Considering the various challenges that “anonymous reporting” can lead to, the updated version of the Code encourages “safe reporting” instead.

It also better defines cases of PMC rule violations and allows the option to coordinate with law enforcement bodies conducting parallel investigations.

The final change clarifies the disciplinary procedure with alleged violations, including the recognition and globalisation of decisions and sanctions imposed by National Federations (NFs). The new PMC Rules come with a flowchart of the investigation process to make it more transparent and easier for national federations to understand.

Considering the importance of the PMC Rules for the integrity of sport, the WBSC strongly encourages its national federations to implement the PMC rules at the national level by either referencing the WBSC PMC Rules in their statutes or Integrity Rules or adopting the model rules for national federations in line with the Olympic Movement Code PMC found here.

The updated PMC Rules can be found here as well as Appendix (Flowchart) here.