Online gaming tender, first appeals from concessionaires to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court

As was widely expected, the first appeals have arrived against the tender for online gaming concessions, published in the Official Journal of the European Union a month ago.

The concessionaires represented by the Cigo - Italian Online Gaming Concessionaires association – appealed.
The details are provided in a note, which we report below.
“Cigo, like Agic (Association of entertainment gaming concessions joining Confindustria, Ed.), believes that regulatory and financial stability, fight against gambling addiction and illegality, legal and responsible gaming and the dignity of the gaming industry are shared values that must be protected, as well as the respect for Italian and European principles for the protection of the free market and competition, pillars for a development compatible with the consumer protection, the Treasury and the supply chain of online gaming operators. In this perspective, consistently with what has been expressed in every institutional forum since its foundation, Cigo announces that it has coordinated, with the assistance of its lawyers - lawyers Porfiri, Vergerio, Ripamonti and Parrelli - the presentation of an appeal to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court against the tender notice, to protect the legitimate interests of medium and small-sized Italian concessionaires”.

This is not the first time that Cigo talks about the topic. Last February, the association criticized the "abnormal cost of concessions", the restrictions for skins and for top up points of sale foreseen during a hearing at the Finance and Treasury Committee of the Senate, as part of the analisys of the strategy for the reorganization of the gaming sector in December 2024, instead it asked for a discussion table on the many issues for the sector and to guarantee stability and assurances to investors.

The announcement of the appeal by some small and medium-sized Italian concessionaires comes when the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei monopoli published a new management decision, which modifies the administrative rules of the procedure for awarding a concession for the remote operation and collection of games, following the communications received by the Sole Project Manager "from operators, with registered offices outside of Italy, interested in participating in the award procedure, which highlight possible critical issues related to some provisions contained in the Administrative Rules, potentially capable of representing a restriction on the freedom of establishment and the circulation of services, in conflict with Articles 49 and 56 of the Tfeu - Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and, also, of undermining the principle of maximum participation in the tender procedure".