(Jamma) There was talk of all-round legal gaming today in Florence during the itinerant workshop "In the name of legality" organized by Codere Italia. Opening the works was Antonella Coniglio – Councilor for legality of the Province of Florence who recalled how “the criminal network is entering our territory. The Province has chosen to intervene in the field of gaming activities by adhering to the Public Notice network by adhering to a campaign to raise awareness and combat gambling”. “Our territory – he added – is a strategic network”. “The gambling industry involves 200.000 people. There is a need for rules to regulate a new sector which in Italy began to grow between 99 and 2000, when the offer of football pools, totip and game of lotto new games have been added” explained Claudio Bozza – Moderator of the meeting and journalist of the Corriere Fiorentino. "Here we will talk about gambling in the name of legality, or rather the importance of not playing wherever it happens".
Daniela Guiducci (Monopoli Customs Agency): "An "education" of the exhibitors allows us to properly educate the players too"
"Occasions like today's are very important to create synergy between us as administration and regulatory body, law enforcement, municipality and province" said Daniela Guiducci of the Customs and Monopolies Agency at the beginning of her speech "Analyzing the market we can detect the strong diffusion of New Slots and VLTs) present in many types of commercial establishments. But there are many other forms of play, linked to horse racing or totocalcio. In Tuscany, from the point of view of supply, we can speak of a situation that is not particularly problematic. There are no situations of serious irregularity. We can think that the administration's policy is successful. Since 2011, we have extended our presence on the territory (we are present in almost all the Tuscan provinces), so we are able to carry out an effective prevention work. Our task is to redeem cases of irregularity, but we must also provide information and prevention to ensure a "legal gaming fabric". "As far as we are concerned, we hope for the creation of a single text to have more regulation" added the representative of the ADM. "In terms of controls, we were able to verify the usefulness of game tests to understand if the concessionaire has perfectly connected machines". However, today the challenge is also played out on other fronts "An "education" of the exhibitors allows us to properly educate the players” said Dr. Guiducci introducing the theme of compulsive gambling. “The Balduzzi Decree is particularly incisive in this logic of legality. Today the risks of gambling addiction are also clearer. Now we await the new provisions contained in a new decree which provides for monitoring methods to verify irregularities. The checks will be intensified throughout Italy with the use of all the forces of order, in concert with us.
Our checks are mainly concentrated in areas with the highest concentration of minors (near schools, churches…). The penalties are very heavy (administrative from 5000 to 20.000 euros + closure of the financial year from 10 to 30 days). From the end of October to today we have encountered 2 cases of this type.
Why do pockets of gambling still persist despite all that has been done?
Dealing with the issue of illegal offers requires a preventive analysis of what has been done in this regard. The professor. Ranieri Razzante (President of AIRA – Anti-Money Laundering Association) spoke today at the conference highlighting the need to “distinguish between illegal gaming because it is managed by illegal associations or legal gaming but practiced illegally. The repressive apparatus that has been put in place is among the most effective one can have today.
“I believe that illegal gaming has suffered a severe blow both from the activity of the police forces and from the legislative apparatus (especially as regards the issue of new licenses). Codere's information campaigns have certainly had a great response as regards the training of citizens, who thus have the tools to know all the rules of the game.
“Contrast agents are often inadequate. One cannot think of placing a policeman in every corner of the game, but I believe that we can speak of greater vulnerability in the context of online gaming, because that is where crime tends to creep in in a more massive and even simpler way. Thus it is easier for the illegal to try to become legal, but with the investigative tools we have it is also easier to discover them.
The clandestine offer represents an attraction for the player because the winnings are greater and because absolute confidentiality is often guaranteed. The fraudulent pact is even suggestive. The gambling den fascinates because it is more difficult to identify.
"Finally, the regulatory panorama is clearing itself of doubts and the very recent jurisprudence consolidates the theses of the Bersani decree" pressed the dr. Francesco Lento – Substitute Commissioner of the Florence Police Headquarters- illustrating the activity of the Police Headquarters. “ This is important because it creates the conditions for the birth of the Consolidated Law. It is important for us because it would constitute a necessary reference in carrying out our control activity. In fact, we are directly called to supervise and our commitment is articulated on this front and on that of issuing licences". “I can without a doubt say that an important support comes from the trade associations. Recently strategic agencies have sprung up (in the suburbs) which need to be mapped in order to be supervised and only adequate legislation on the matter can help us with this”.
"As Codere Italia we are at the forefront in the prevention of gambling addiction" said theEng. Massimo Ruta – Country Manager Codere. We have been able to count on the collaboration of the ”First Consumption” association and we also aim to help through psychological support in case the signs of a compulsive gambling pathology appear.
Unfortunately what escapes today is the extent of the phenomenon and there is a lot of superficiality in dealing with the phenomenology of pathological gambling. There are less than 6000 people followed by the National Health Service.
Compulsive gambling is a pathology and as such must be treated, but recognizing the real boundaries of the phenomenon.
In Forte Dei Marmi there was a case of closure of an amusement arcade in the historic centre. The Tar sanctioned the legitimacy of the provision of the Municipality. Because the municipalities can decide. Could this favor clandestine activities?
"The ruling of the Tar facilitates the municipalities that can legislate on the authorizations that they issue themselves" explained Dr. Lanto of the Florence Police Headquarters. “It is legitimate for the municipalities to decide. But where the State recalls the decision, it does so for reasons of order and security.
“Today, thanks to the state and regulations, the player can play and have more fun. The player is pushed towards legality because he has more chances to have fun, so the prohibition scheme must be thought of as training and information. In this sense young people should be trained, as is done with other topics such as drugs or alcohol
“The Balduzzi decree has created some confusion” explained Prof. Razzante. “Who says a downtown arcade creates more problems than one in the suburbs? The drama concerns young people who, if they want, move easily to the suburbs. The incentives not to open the arcades (following the example of Lombardy, Lazio and Tuscany) are absurd, in a historical moment like this. There can be illegality in any business.
I don't think the criminal or the ludopata goes to play downtown, so I don't understand the reason for the sentence. Is this a limitation for decorum?”
Territorial controls. Are there examples of synergy between law enforcement agencies?
This question is answered by Ten. Col. of the Guardia di Finanza Federico Pecoraro “We at GDF take care of the administrative and fiscal aspects. We also ask for support from the State Police but we have the skills to carry out this type of check. Obviously we also make use of the support of the Revenue Agency. The objective is to achieve a wider cooperation also with the monopolies, but above all with the citizen, who constitutes a valid aid for receiving reports.
"It is often not easy to understand what types of synergies can be established between the forces of order" added the dr. Francis Lanto “Each of us has similar powers of control. Nobody can ignore the administrative aspect. A policeman does not overlook what he also finds from an administrative point of view and will therefore report it to the GDF.
Often we too, in the Police, happen to get our hands on aspects that are not really ours.
There is an occasional aspect of synergy. Sometimes GDF colleagues openly ask us for collaboration, especially when there is the possibility of achieving important results. This is a type of synergy that concerns important investigations such as those involving organized crime.
Since 2010 Codere has also been active online. How do you control access by minors?
"The Internet is an open network and lives for this" said Eng. Massimo Ruta “Thinking about limiting activity is a tough job, but the Monopolies are trying and have ordered the blackout of over 5000 sites.
How to limit the access field to minors? It is not a simple undertaking, because every obstacle can be bypassed simply by entering the data of a parent. It would be necessary to carry out identification activities through corneal impressions, for example, but it is a very expensive system.
