Italian government bans football sponsorships

The Deputy Prime Minister has warned betting companies that some of their deals with football teams won’t be recognised.

Italy.- Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio has announced that sponsorship deals between betting companies and football teams won’t be valid. The warning, however, only applies to those signed after the approval of the Dignity Decree at the Council of Ministers on July 2nd, which will ban all gambling advertising from next January 1st.

His statement came after a three-year deal was signed by AS Roma and Lazio (top football teams in the country) and online gambling operators Betway and Marathonbet (respectively). Furthermore, Di Maio explained that the Decree requires all existing contracts to be dismantled by June 30th.

The project will arrive in the House of Representatives on July 24th and will most likely be approved by the 26th. In addition, and despite the General Confederation of Italian Industry proposed plan to modify gambling advertising without completely prohibiting it, Di Maio said that he wouldn’t change his mind and that he “feels sorry for them.”

Furthermore, Di Maio explained that he doesn’t believe the ban will destroy the gambling industry and that it “will simply be replaced by those of other industries, as was the case when tobacco advertising was banned.”