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The Italian Supreme Court issued a decision against a gaming CDT connected to a foreign licensed bookmaker that might lead to interesting developments in the Italian sportsbetting market.
The CTDs are usually Internet cafes connected to the foreign licensed platform of a bookmaker offering games in Italy on the basis of the European Union principle of freedom of services and therefore without holding a local gaming license issued by AAMS and without paying Italian gaming taxes. However, according to the Court none of the decision of the European Court of Justice on the Italian licensing regime held that the regime per se is in contrast with EU principles but the rulings of the ECJ just held that its enforcement has been in some cases discriminatory.
The need to protect consumers and public order behind the Italian licensing regime justifies the exemption to the EU principle of freedom of service since according to the Court it is not possible to rely on checks performed abroad on intermediaries operating in Italy otherwise it would be like stating “that any convicted person might act as intermediary without been subject to any police check” in Italy.
Needless to say that the future of the Italian gaming market will depend also on the approach adopted by courts following such decision. In a period where sportsbetting games are facing a crisis due to the growth of casino and poker games, the ban of CTDs might considerably expand the size of the Italian licensed market.
As usual if you want to discuss about it, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.
