Italy’s outgoing FIGC president and the country’s sports minister are calling for the repeal of the 2018 Dignity Decree, the near-total ban on gambling advertising and sports sponsorships, citing evidence that the restriction failed to reduce gambling harm while costing Italian football hundreds of millions in lost revenue.
Gravina’s Exit Report Targets the Ad Ban
Gabriele Gravina resigned as FIGC president on April 2, following Italy’s elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a qualifying defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gianluigi Buffon and head coach Gennaro Gattuso followed him out shortly after. Before leaving, Gravina submitted an 11-page analysis to the federation calling for a structural overhaul of Italian football, with the Dignity Decree at the centre of it.
Gravina described the ban as “largely ineffective” in reducing underage and problem gambling. He cited the findings of Italy’s 2022 Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, which concluded that gambling participation grew after the advertising restrictions took effect, including among minors. The parallel growth of illegal wagering formed a central part of his argument.
The European Gaming and Betting Association has put figures to that black market problem. In estimates cited during a 2023 La Gazzetta dello Sport investigation, the body calculated that Italians place approximately €25 billion in annual wagers with unlicensed operators, and that roughly €1 billion in GGR per year is leaving the regulated market for offshore sites.
The Funding Gap in Italian Sport
The Dignity Decree has left Italian clubs structurally disadvantaged against European competitors. A 2026 UEFA study on club finances found that betting and gambling companies account for 24% of shirt sponsors across European leagues, making them the single most common sponsorship category on the continent. Italian clubs cannot access that market at all under current law.
Critics of the ban say it has cost Italian football up to €1 billion in cumulative lost sponsorship revenue since 2018. The FIGC report put annual operating losses across Italian professional football at more than €700 million, attributing part of that shortfall to the advertising restriction. Gravina linked those structural finances directly to the national team’s repeated failure to qualify for major tournaments. Italy has now missed both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ordered a formal inquiry into Italian football governance and funding following the World Cup qualifying failure, placing the advertising restriction under additional political scrutiny.
Abodi’s Proposal and the 1% Levy
Sports Minister Andrea Abodi has publicly described the Dignity Decree as a “blunt populist tool.” He presented a Sports Decree last year that included provisions to repeal the advertising and sponsorship ban, with a 1% levy attached to new sponsorship revenues. The proceeds would be directed toward stadium redevelopment, women’s and grassroots sport funding, and addiction treatment programmes.
Roberto Alesse, Director General of the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), signalled the same direction in an interview with La Verità. Alesse said the reform would “overcome the so-called Dignity Decree” and that legal gambling “cannot endure excessive prohibitions,” framing the change as alignment with international standards rather than a relaxation of oversight.
“We are working to adapt national standards to those required by Europe. It is about aligning the system with international standards.” — Roberto Alesse, Director General, ADM
The Regulatory Context
The advertising reform debate is running alongside a broader licensing overhaul. In November 2025, ADM issued 52 licences to 46 operators under a new online gambling framework, generating €365 million in direct state revenue, above the government’s projected range. Online GGR is forecast to surpass €5.5 billion by end of 2026.
AGCOM, Italy’s communications regulator, has taken a first step toward opening advertising space by issuing guidelines permitting responsible gambling campaigns that contain no promotional element. The guidelines define a narrow framework within which licensed brands can communicate their existence and harm-reduction tools without breaching the Dignity Decree, a shift that operators in the new licensing regime are required to navigate.
Italy’s digital firewall programme, launched to block unlicensed offshore sites, represents the complementary enforcement prong of the government’s dual approach to reducing black market exposure.
Abodi’s Sports Decree has not been formally introduced in parliament. Legislation to replace the Dignity Decree is expected to face resistance from public health groups and opposition parties including the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party. The FIGC presidential election, which will determine Gravina’s successor, is scheduled for June 22.
Source: ADM
