Sports Decree, stiffer penalties for assaulting a referee

The realisation of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the 38th edition of the America's Cup in Naples, the Mediterranean Games in Taranto and the Atp Finals, but also security, sports justice, facilities and support for student athletes. We talked about the sports decree, an urgent measure concerning the organisation and holding of major sporting events, which has been given the green light by the Chamber of Deputies and is now being examined by the Senate for final conversion into law, with Chamber rapporteur Fabio Roscani, deputy of Fratelli d'Italia.

From the Milan - Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics to the America's Cup in Naples, 'Italy will be at the centre of the world with these major sporting events. It wants to make itself competitive, modern, attractive. With the Sport decree,' explains Mr Roscani, 'important measures are coming regarding, for example, Milan-Cortina, with a whole series of articulated measures for the safety and logistics of the Olympics, the establishment of a commissioner for the Paralympics that will take place immediately afterwards. Important measures concern the Mediterranean Games in Taranto 2026 and the Atp finals. But not only big events. The unblocking of stadiums, rather than scholarships for sports merit, the fight against match fixing and important measures regarding skiing'..

New also for the mountains: stricter requirements for tobogganing and ski slopes and compulsory helmets for everyone. In all types of slopes. "There was an important discussion with all operators in the sector between the government and the regions. We also decided to put our hands on safety on our ski slopes. One figure above all,' recalls Roscani, 'over 11,000 accidents occur on our slopes. Accidents that affect many young people. And above all, the most serious ones involve people who are not wearing helmets. So it is a measure that we want to bring forward in the dl sport not only for safety, but also for prevention'.

Another important regulation concerns football in Italy, with the tightening of penalties for those who assault a referee. 'The hateful phenomenon of violence in sport,' says Roscani, 'unfortunately also concerns football referees, data in hand. So we wanted to include in the penal code the sanction system already provided for in Law 401 of 1989, which will extend to referees the same protection that criminal law reserves for police officers. We believe this was a fundamental, important signal that politics must give to combat violence in sport and violence against referees'.

 One of the latest additions to the Sports Decree is the amendment establishing the Extraordinary Commissioner for the UEFA Euro 2032 works. "This is a mechanism that will allow us to put together the needs of a director, which are fundamental when you want to do systemic operations, together with the competences of the territory. In fact, mayors can be appointed as sub-commissioners. We need efficient, modern, environmentally sustainable, accessible stadiums. This will be done thanks to this new operational structure. By October 2026 the Football Federation must indicate five useful stadiums for Euro 2032 and then we expect that by April-May 2027 the construction sites must open'..