The Italian football scene was recently rocked by a betting scandal, involving some prominent players from Serie A (Premier League) and the Italian national team.

From a regulatory point of view, article 24 of the Italian code of sport justice of Football Federation (FIGC) was taken into consideration on the issue, which provides for a categorical ban on federated subjects, managers and members from betting directly or indirectly on matches officials organized by the FIGC, FIFA and UEFA; therefore, in this regard both national competitions such as the Italian championship, but also international ones are included.

The ongoing investigation into footballers implicated in irregular online gaming activities has highlighted the gaps in the existing legislation, which has pushed the government to evaluate advanced solutions in order to arrive at an effective resolution of the problem, and in fact, it is preparing to intervene with a new decree.

The next government decree proposes various measures to effectively combat illicit practices in the world of betting, among these we find the use of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence to be able to identify illegal sites and make the entire process blocked more effective. The idea would be to create a system that will hunt for unauthorized domains on the web, proceeding to automatically obscure them. Another intervention will be made on the financial front, in fact a regulation of understanding with Bank of Italy will be issued, with methods to make the transfer of money to foreign accounts and vice versa significantly more complex. The banking institutions will then proceed to block the income from possible winnings to avoid unauthorized flows of money.

At the same time, the government is actively collaborating with the regions to reorganize the retail sector, a strategic action that is expected to be implemented in the coming months and will be implemented starting from 2024. Although the decree does not contemplate immediate fiscal changes, an increase in the concession fee at 2% of the online operator's compensation, signaling a clear signal of attention to the financial dynamics of the sector. A significant change is represented by the obligation for licensees to actively contribute to communication campaigns on responsible gaming, with an annual payment equal to 0.2% of revenues, up to a maximum of 500,000 euros. The provisions relating to physical gaming will instead be addressed in a subsequent legislative decree, issued after an agreement between the State, Regions and local authorities; this text delves into the tender for online gaming, establishing that the cost of each license will be seven million euros for each concession requested, with a maximum limit of five concessions per single corporate group. Finally, there are restrictions and precise rules for top-up sales points, making registration an essential requirement to carry out this activity. In this context of regulatory change, Italy is preparing to strengthen the governance of the sports betting sector, aiming for more transparent, responsible management and in keeping with sporting values.

author: Dott. Federico Benedetti