Betting: controversy over Serie A’s ‘True Data’ advert – the Customs Agency is set to call for it to be halted
The Adm emphasises that ‘all bets offered throughout the country by licence holders – to whom the State has assigned specific functions relating to the management and supervision of legal gambling – are completely secure and certified, as they are subject to the supervision of the Agency, the sole body in Italia responsible for the supervision and regulation of public gambling’
On the final day of the Serie A football season, the Serie A League aired the ‘True data’ campaign, which, ‘with the misguided aim of defending the authenticity of match statistics, sends an incorrect, misleading message that could potentially harm the tax revenue generated from public gambling by state-licensed operators. The campaign’s closing slogan, in fact, reads ‘If the data isn’t official, your bet is less secure’, thereby raising doubts amongst the public regarding the security, legality and fairness of public betting. Furthermore, paradoxically, by creating an immediate link between football match commentary and betting, the campaign constitutes an indirect promotion of gambling – which is prohibited by law – over which the Communications Regulatory Authority exercises oversight.”
The Customs Agency’s statement
This was stated in a press release by the Customs and Monopolies Agency, which emphasised that ‘all bets offered throughout the country by licence holders – to whom the State has assigned specific functions relating to the management and supervision of legal gambling – are absolutely secure and certified, as they are subject to the Agency’s supervision, the sole body in Italia responsible for the supervision and regulation of public gambling’.
The results of individual sporting events on which public bets are taken are then certified by licence holders on the basis of official public data and the most authoritative and rigorous sources of information. The responsibility for monitoring the legality of betting therefore lies exclusively with the Customs and Monopolies Agency, which exercises the powers conferred upon it by law; these powers cannot be delegated to, nor assumed by, any private organising body’.
The note continues: ‘Casting doubt on the security of public betting services offered by all state-licensed operators (and only by them) creates confusion and uncertainty amongst users, with the risk of damage to the entire licensing system and, therefore, to the Exchequer; it also creates the perception of a parallel between unsafe gambling and illegal gambling, with a possible shift of users towards unauthorised gambling platforms. It is reiterated that the collection of bets in Italia through state-authorised licence holders is fully secure and certified, and that the Customs and Monopolies Agency is the guardian of the reliability of the data used.”
The request for suspension
“Any misrepresentation by other parties that could have repercussions and consequences for the collection of data, as well as for public confidence in the existing public system, cannot be accepted, and therefore,” the Agency, “in its institutional role as guardian of the law, will take the necessary steps to demand that the campaign be halted”.
