Attorney Sbordoni: "it is necessary to channel the game into controlled circuits"
According to lawyer Stefano Sbordoni, General Secretary of U.T.I.S., to overcome the effects of the closures due to the Covid19 pandemic, it is necessary to welcome the evolution of the gaming market and attend them in the context of legality.
A year has passed since Italy and in particular the gaming sector plunged back into the second lockdown: on 26 October 2020, in fact, gaming activities were once again suspended, with the exception of the corners with slots and betting, which however they suffered the same fate after a few days. The second lockdown was much longer and harder than the first, which already forced arcades, betting rooms, bingo halls and casinos to remain closed for 100 days. In total, therefore, between the first and second lockdowns, the gaming companies remained closed on average 330 days. In mid-June 2021, the government relaxed the restrictions. However, gaming activities were among the last to reopen, and only in the regions in the 'white' zone, i.e. with a limited number of infections. This, as it is easy to predict, has caused not only economic damage to operators in the sector, but also, as recently declared by the director of the Customs and Monopoly Agency, Dr. Marcello Minenna, "a more or less conscious translation of the final consumer towards illegal gaming and the turnover of illegal gaming can be quantified at 20 billion euros" with damage to the Treasury of about 4 billion euros. Attorney Stefano Sbordoni, interviewed by Agimeg as one of the leading experts in the gaming sector and general secretary of the Italian Totoricevitori Union (UTIS), underlined that "in the second lockdown the opportunity was taken to hit the the gaming sector, although not justified by the conditions of any contagion that could occur "a sector that has been" penalized more than other economic sectors ". The well-known lawyer specified that the blame for the movement of part of the game on illegal channels "lies solely with those who hit the retail sector." According to Avv. Sbordoni "One year after the second lockdown, in addition to a progressive return to normal, there is an evolution in market conditions "and" if we hear more and more talk of omnichannel it means that the pandemic has simply accelerated a phenomenon already underway ". "In terms of general collection", continued Avv. Sbordoni, "the sector is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, but if we look at the internal balance of the sector, much of the collection comes from online". "In this perspective", according to the well-known lawyer, "omnichannel could be a solution" and "the solutions are already there, they must be grasped and addressed, the market always anticipates the rules". "In the future", concluded the lawyer. Sbordoni, "it will be important to channel the game into controlled circuits: the channeling takes place by grasping the evolution of the market and accompanying them in the bed of legality".