The Italian Government has confirmed its plans to recognise and regulate eSports after it had controversially tasked the customs and monopolies to seize equipment from various venues all over the country in late April.
The agency stated that the move followed a complaint that required it to “verify compliance of taxation on gambling and with regard to the correct application of the legislation aimed at the protection and health of minors.”
Local Area Network (LAN) equipment has been classified by an existing Italian law as similar to gambling, slot and arcade machines.
The Customs and Monopolies Agency stated, “It is quite clear that the purpose of the checks carried out last weekend was to ascertain compliance with the regulations currently in force, with the aim of protecting their own operators in the market of LAN rooms that make gaming equipment available legally and responsibly.”
The Italian Government has since affirmed that it will seek to introduce legislation that will include the establishment of an official eSports federation.
According to corrierecomunicazioni, Federico Freni, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, “The Government is considering, in concert with the CONI, the establishment of a federation that oversees the organisation of competitive sports gaming.”
“The Government wants to specify, given the extraordinary importance of the sector, that all evaluations are underway for the most appropriate regulatory initiatives to ensure effective and stable regulation of the sector in a reasonable time, recognising an autonomous relevance of the devices without winning money.”
Freni added: “The Government reserves the right to evaluate the appropriateness of all the initiatives undertaken so far.”
So far, the Italian Federation for Electronic Disciplines, member of both the International Esports Federation and the Global Esports Federation has welcomed the “positive news”, stating that the recognition of esports would support the development as well as sustainability of the eSports sector.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
