Italian football clubs will be able to retain sponsorship deals signed with betting companies through to July 12 following a ruling by AGCOM, regulator for the country’s communications industries.
Lega Serie A, governing body of the top division of Italian football, last month requested clarification on the Italian government’s gambling advertising ban and how it applies to existing club sponsorship contracts.
Serie A believed the so-called ‘Dignity Decree’, which was made into law last August, raised a number of issues. The Lega had called for an in-depth analysis into whether a clause provided by the law for the banning of advertising, which included a one-year exemption for existing contracts, was also valid for sponsorship deals, which were due to be banned from January 1.
The Agipronews website, citing a letter sent to Lega president Gaetano Miccichè by his AGCOM counterpart Angelo Marcello Cardani, said the regulator’s council ruled that sponsorship contracts in progress at the date the Dignity Decree took hold, July 12, 2018, can fall under the one-year exemption.
This means that for now, the ban on sponsorship deals only applies to new contracts. The date of July 12 ensures that the remainder of the 2018-19 season is covered.