Giovanni Malago, former President of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics committee, has been elected President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
Malago secured a majority vote of nearly 70%, confidently beating the only other contender, former FIGC boss Giancarlo Abete. Malago’s election has the potential to steer Italy’s gambling industry in a different direction.
Both him and his predecessor have been calling for a complete rethink of how youth football is being handled in Italy. This rings especially true after the country’s failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third time, prompting a government review of the sport.
Is the Dignity Decree on the table?
Abete’s election programme, as reported by local news outlet Agimeg, directly called for 2% of all sports bets on football (€16bn according to the latest figures) to be redirected to the FIGC.
Malago also believes that value generated from the betting sector should go back into football through FIGC, but hasn’t specified how much exactly as of yet.
This would directly play into Malago’s plans for the FIGC ‘Club Italia’ programme, which oversees the development of all Italian national football teams – from youth levels through to the senior teams.
Moreover, Abete outright called for the abolition of the 2018 Dignity Decree, which introduced an almost-complete ban of gambling advertising and sports sponsorships across television, radio and digital platforms.
Italian football clubs have found other ways to work with gambling firms, however, mainly via sponsorships with operators’ infotainment’ brands, like the deals between Napoli and bet365 Scores and AS Roma and Eurobet.live.
However, the much more lucrative type of direct sponsorship arrangements seen in leagues like England’s Premier League have not been seen in Italy for many years. Some voices in Italian football have been calling for change for some time, citing clubs’ struggling finances.
And while Malago has not yet stated which side he stands on in the debate, the ban could come back onto the agenda given that he treats betting as a “system resource” for the development of football – with his voice as the FIGC President one of the most influential when it comes to national policy debates.
Although it’s not clear whether he shares Abete’s desire for Italian football to reclaim betting sponsorships, Malago’s ambition for a more financially secure sport could still benefit betting marketers and club commercial teams alike if the conversation goes their way.
