Italy steps up illegal gambling enforcement in Sicily with 2 closures and more than €20,000 in fines

Italian authorities in Agrigento shut down two clandestine betting collection points and imposed administrative fines of more than €20,000 ($22,796) after a joint operation by ADM and Guardia di Finanza. For PSPs and operators, the point is simple: Italy is still policing off-network wagering hard, and anything outside the national betting rails is exactly where regulators look first.

1. Inspectors from ADM’s Sicilia 6 office, based in Porto Empedocle, worked with provincial Guardia di Finanza units to inspect 14 betting shops and gaming halls across Agrigento, Favara, Raffadali, Palma di Montechiaro, Campobello di Licata, Ribera and the Pelagie Islands.
2. The checks were part of a broader surveillance push in the province aimed at identifying gambling operations that sit outside Italy’s national regulatory framework. In other words, this was not a one-off sweep, but a directed enforcement pass over a defined region.
3. Two venues were found to be operating as unauthorised betting collection points. At one location in Porto Empedocle, officers seized two computer terminals that were not connected to the national betting collection network and did not carry the identification codes required by law.
4. ADM said that being disconnected from the national network meant the devices could operate without passing through the counters that record bets and wagers, which would have made it easier to evade PREU (the national single tax on gambling), a levy linked directly to the amount of play registered on each terminal.
5. Criminal complaints were filed following the inspection, and the owner of the Porto Empedocle business was reported to the Agrigento prosecutor’s office as a suspected operator of illegal betting shops.

The enforcement action lands while the Italian Parliament is discussing a bill introduced in the Senate earlier this month that would impose a 2% levy on all football bets placed in the country. The proposal would apply to both retail and online wagers tied to matches organised by the Italian Football Federation and its affiliated professional and amateur leagues, with the proceeds earmarked for the Italian football system.