Football

Francesco Totti in Moscow for sports betting event for six-figure payout

Former Roma captain Francesco Totti arrived in Moscow to receive the Rb award and participate in a promotional event of Bookmaker ratings

7 April 2025

Francesco Totti - dicembre 2019 (Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo)

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Totti exempted from holding advertising events in Italy

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Francesco Totti arrived in Moscow this morning, where he is scheduled to participate tomorrow in a promotional event of Bookmaker ratings, Russia's leading sports and sports betting portal.

A video of the former Roma captain's arrival at the airport was posted on the organisers' Instagram profile.

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During the event, Totti will be presented with the Rb international award, which has previously been presented to Brazil's Cafu and Portugal's Figo, among others. The event was conceived in 2018. The Rb Award is one of the most important events in the field of sport and betting in Russia.

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In recent weeks, several billboards have appeared in the Russian capital with a picture of Totti and the inscription 'The Emperor goes to the Third Rome', i.e. Moscow.

Totti exempted from holding publicity events in Italy

The general director of Bookmaker ratings, Asker Tkhalidzhokov, told the business daily Vedomosti that the total cost of Totti's participation in the event is 'a six-figure figure in euros', adding that he believes it is the portal's highest expenditure on organising the award, which was established in 2019.

As for the reactions and controversy in Italy following the announcement of the former Giallorossi captain's arrival, Tkhalidzhokov noted that they had been an advantage for the organisers due to the attention they had drawn to the event. 'From a public relations point of view,' said the general manager, 'this is undoubtedly a success. For previous ceremonies we have not had such coverage in the foreign media. Dozens of Italian newspapers have already published articles in which our logo and that of the award appear, so it is a successful publicity campaign'. "

However,' Tkhalidzhokov added, 'due to fears about possible pressure on Totti, we decided to cancel some activities that were to take place in Rome. If we had realised them, there would probably have been even more excitement. But because there remains a certain political tension, Totti's side was asked not to hold publicity events in Italy'.

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