Key Takeaways:
Outgoing FIGC president Gravina requires Dignity Decree repeal in 11-page reform report Serie A golf equipment estimate €100M-€150M per yr in misplaced sponsorship since 2019 advert ban Italy ranks forty ninth of fifty leagues for under-21 nationwide team-eligible taking part in time at 1.9%
A Seven-Yr Ban Below Hearth From All Sides After Large Sporting Failure
Gravina printed the report on April 8, which was initially ready for a parliamentary listening to that was canceled after his departure. The doc frames Italy’s repeated World Cup failures as signs of structural decay fairly than short-term mismanagement. Amongst its central arguments is that the 2018 Dignity Decree, which imposed a near-total ban on playing promoting and sports activities sponsorships, has disadvantaged Italian soccer of vital funding with out reaching its public well being targets.
Gravina cited the ultimate report of Italy’s personal Parliamentary Fee of Inquiry into unlawful playing, printed in 2022, which discovered that playing truly elevated after the ban took impact – together with amongst minors – and that unlawful wagering grew alongside it. The FIGC report additionally referenced a 2026 UEFA examine on European membership funds which recognized betting and playing corporations as the most typical shirt sponsor class throughout the continent, underscoring the aggressive drawback going through Italian golf equipment.
Serie A golf equipment have estimated losses of at the very least 100 to 150 million euros yearly in foregone sponsorship income because the Dignity Decree took impact in 2019. It was launched by the short-lived Lega–5-Star Motion coalition authorities as a part of its broader labor and anti-poverty bundle and was contentious from inception.
The coalition itself collapsed inside a yr, however the advert ban remained. Some groups have since labored across the restrictions by means of “infotainment” partnerships with playing subsidiaries – Inter Milan’s take care of Betsson Sport being essentially the most outstanding instance – however these preparations fall properly wanting full sponsorship worth.
Gravina’s FIGC report additionally highlights the dire state of Italian youth growth. Italy ranks forty ninth out of fifty monitored leagues for the share of minutes performed by under-21 gamers eligible for the nationwide workforce, at simply 1.9 p.c. Foreigners account for 68 p.c of all minutes performed in Serie A. Skilled Italian soccer collectively loses greater than €700 million per yr in mixture working losses, compounded by excessive debt ranges and a historical past of golf equipment collapsing or being excluded from competitions.
Gravina’s proposals embody channeling a proportion of betting revenues into grassroots packages, academies and stadium development, reinstating the “Progress Decree” tax regime for international professionals, lifting the promoting and sponsorship ban, and restructuring the league pyramid from Serie A by means of Serie D.
The report lands amid a broader authorities push to overtake Italy’s playing regulatory framework. Sports activities Minister Andrea Abodi, who ran towards Gravina for the FIGC presidency in 2018 and publicly referred to as for his resignation after the Bosnia defeat, has described the Dignity Decree as a “blunt populist device” and has been tasked with creating a alternative. Abodi offered a Sports activities Decree final yr that included provisions for repealing the advert ban, with a proposed 1 p.c levy on sponsorship revenues earmarked for stadium redevelopment, ladies’s and grassroots sport, and habit packages.
Italy’s communications regulator AGCOM authorized new tips for accountable playing promoting in late March, establishing a slender framework below which licensed operators can run branded accountable playing campaigns with out breaching the prevailing ban. The 30-day session interval was anticipated to conclude earlier than summer time, doubtlessly making a bridge between the present prohibition and no matter replaces it.
The European Gaming and Betting Affiliation argued in October 2023, responding to an investigation by La Gazzetta dello Sport, that the Dignity Decree has actively aided the black market, citing estimates of €25 billion in annual unlicensed wagers in Italy and roughly €1 billion in gross gaming income misplaced to offshore operators annually.
Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Company authorized 46 operators for the nation’s new on-line playing licensing regime in late 2025, producing €365 million in direct income, which was above the federal government’s projected vary. On-line playing gross gaming income is projected to surpass €5.5 billion by the tip of 2026.
Laws to formally substitute the Dignity Decree has not but been launched in parliament, and whereas sponsorship reform enjoys broad political help, easing restrictions on broadcast and digital promoting is anticipated to face stronger resistance from public well being teams and opposition events just like the 5 Star Motion and the Democratic Celebration.
Gravina was elected FIGC president in October 2018 and oversaw Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph, but in addition presided over the nation’s failure to qualify for each the 2022 and 2026 World Cups. Head coach Gennaro Gattuso and common supervisor Gianluigi Buffon additionally resigned within the wake of the Bosnia defeat. His successor can be elected on June 22.
