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Last week the news of yet another round against criminal associations. There is talk of over 30 arrests and - of course (sic) - of the involvement of some of those arrested with the gaming industry. This seems to be the aspect that most interests in the media. However, regardless of all the guarantees of the law and the benefit of the principle, shared or not, which says that until the final sentence is presumed innocence, there is an element that is never put in the obvious evidence by the press: if it's illegal gambling, there's a legal game that does not deserve public ridicule!

In almost all the operations that involved parties related to the gaming world, in addition to the criminal link that allowed to strengthen the investigations, the activities carried out by these were illegal, illegal, prohibited, or as you want to define to finally do it understand.

Why, will the reader say, do you want to dwell on this aspect? To those who write from these pages is quite obvious, while those who write elsewhere unfortunately not. The compression and continuous delegitimization of the public game, lawful, granted or as best to define it, implemented unexpectedly and scritiatively by a multitude of even institutional or presumed subjects, has produced and continues to produce exactly what we read in the news and that we have above reported: uncontrolled expansion of criminal activities.

Because it is clear that if I delegitimate what is illegal, I authorize everyone and we repeat all, to undertake the same activity illegally!

When the path of emergence of illegal gaming activities began in 2003, which until then was one of the 50 shades of gray that is better to pretend not to know than to pursue, this was one of the most valid motivations, that of remove a lung to finance crime and bring the activity carried out anyway - and of this we never forget, we played, we play and I will always play - for the benefit of the community through taxation. Creating a legal network, made of rules, rules, controls, requirements, and above all traceability, which became a spider's web for the illegal and for those who criminally tried to take advantage of it. And so it was.

The results are in the archives of law enforcement, but appear instead in the news only for the purposes of scandal and with strong connotations of populism, without ever a serious investigation. We have hurled ourselves - and we continue instead - precisely against what has been created, behind the labile screen of contrast to compulsive phenomena that no one cares about denies existence, but, in our opinion, the counter-network, that illegal, feeds and does not allow to identify, treat, prevent. A question arises, but before the emergence of the black-gray game, when there were 800,000 video poker in operation for decades, were the Luddites? Did the GAP exist? Did you care about someone? The answers are of an infinite sadness. as well as the statements that the economic crisis has encouraged the game: instead of honestly disclosing that the game exists regardless and that who caused the economic crisis is responsible for it? We rather share the statements of those who - even if now made that we are in the election campaign, and the gaming industry between direct and indirect counts hundreds of thousands of employees, then votes - says that the work of the competent administration was excellent, that more attention had to be paid to the amnesties and that the regions did not respect the agreements reached in the Conference.

In the second round of information, the attention went to interceptions related to an amendment that would have allowed this illegal network to be remedied. However, there have already been two sanatoria, as well as a third in fact. And as far as we know it is not due to bribes, bribes and so on, but knowingly launched with the aim of putting order in a chaotic market and recovering revenue, even with the unknown of possible non-accessions of subjects with title. But how did it come to having to launch amnesties? It all stems from a series of errors resulting from one another, committed in the years since 1999 by the legislator on duty, which have caused endless litigation in each competent jurisdiction, both in Italy and abroad, particularly in Justice Court. A never-before-seen confusion, which allowed operations on the territory of various kinds, and those who have been able to take advantage of it. And the mafias have flung themselves, as they did - alas with much less prominence in the press - in many other situations created by excess of bureaucracy, and incompetence, always hoping it was guilt and not fraud.

Everything is perfectible, and even the legal network needs fine-tuning, of shock absorbers to its negative effects, of circumscription in a field of activities more or less appreciated but permanent over time, of which control is possible and above all there is awareness. A path has actually started on this, but only some have taken it seriously and many others have unfortunately been exploited.