Arezzo – Authorities are considering new measures to prevent football violence after clashes erupted on the A1 motorway between rival AS Roma and Napoli fans.

 At least eight people have been arrested and over 200 were identified after the violent events that took place over the weekend. According to the investigators in charge of taking care of the case, the Ultras planned the event beforehand, giving the government more reason to act and discuss whether implementation of new sport-related regulations is needed.

 The Ultras are a type of association of football fans known worldwide for having a long history of violence – they are the extremists in football. Authorities were already supervising the area as they knew that the fanatic fans would have been crossing the same path on the A1 motorway - the ones supporting Napoli were directed to Liguria whereas AS Roma fans were going to Milan, meaning they would have met each other in the Arezzo area. 

 The National Observatory on Sport Manifestation was aware of the risk, yet it still allowed the trip to the stadiums by the Ultras only by reinforcing the security measures along the path. 

 As experts are reconstructing the scene to understand whether it was all planned beforehand or if it was just a spontaneous disaster, but it seems multiple cars were spotted in the days prior to the event that were used to notify the other members of the Ultras that their ‘enemies’ are approaching. A large number of messages have also been retrieved that reinforce such theory.  

 Countless fans were brutally hurt, lots of reports of broken bones, stabs, and other cruel acts were reported to the police – many had to be taken to the emergency room to treat their condition. 

 The government is currently trying to get a proper reconstruction of the events by using the footage collected around the scene to strengthen the regulations and guarantee important changes in the new measures that will soon be proposed. Thanks to the tapes police were able to arrest the culprits who fled the area before the officers arrived. 

nk

 Arezzo – Authorities are considering new measures to prevent football violence after clashes erupted on the A1 motorway between rival AS Roma and Napoli fans.

 At least eight people have been arrested and over 200 were identified after the violent events that took place over the weekend. According to the investigators in charge of taking care of the case, the Ultras planned the event beforehand, giving the government more reason to act and discuss whether implementation of new sport-related regulations is needed.

 The Ultras are a type of association of football fans known worldwide for having a long history of violence – they are the extremists in football. Authorities were already supervising the area as they knew that the fanatic fans would have been crossing the same path on the A1 motorway - the ones supporting Napoli were directed to Liguria whereas AS Roma fans were going to Milan, meaning they would have met each other in the Arezzo area. 

 The National Observatory on Sport Manifestation was aware of the risk, yet it still allowed the trip to the stadiums by the Ultras only by reinforcing the security measures along the path. 

 As experts are reconstructing the scene to understand whether it was all planned beforehand or if it was just a spontaneous disaster, but it seems multiple cars were spotted in the days prior to the event that were used to notify the other members of the Ultras that their ‘enemies’ are approaching. A large number of messages have also been retrieved that reinforce such theory.  

 Countless fans were brutally hurt, lots of reports of broken bones, stabs, and other cruel acts were reported to the police – many had to be taken to the emergency room to treat their condition. 

 The government is currently trying to get a proper reconstruction of the events by using the footage collected around the scene to strengthen the regulations and guarantee important changes in the new measures that will soon be proposed. Thanks to the tapes police were able to arrest the culprits who fled the area before the officers arrived. 

nk

 LONDON -- Former Italy national football captain and striker for Chelsea and Juventus Gianluca Vialli has died from pancreatic cancer at age 58, his family said Saturday.

 Public game is always a controversial topic, which divides public opinion into opposing poles. It is a fact, however, that it makes a not inconsiderable contribution to the public finances, as the graphic extracted from Gaming Reportshows.

 Obviously, this component also contributes to the debate, but the concessionary system of public gaming management that we have in Italy is taken as a model internationally.

 Indeed, the 2022 data analysed by the specialist blog of Gaming Report turns out to be particularly good. In the first three quarters, the results for the whole of 2020 have almost been levelled out, with a forecast of particularly good revenues for the entire fiscal year.

 Leaving aside for a moment the first year in which the pandemic affected the situation throughout the entire national territory, invalidating even the public gaming revenues, just looking ahead to 2021 to understand that the legal gaming sector is going through a period of growth.

 Compared to last year, an increase of 40.41 per cent was observed in tax revenue, amounting to 7.76 billion euro. And this is only for the first nine months of the year. It is the opinion of ADM's games director Stefano Saracchi that the overall results in 2022 will be the highest ever in fiscal terms for the public gaming sector.

 A result achieved, Saracchi explains in a video published in the Agimeg Press Agency, thanks to the successful operation of converting users to the legal channel, an outcome of the ongoing fight that the ADM has been waging for years against the illegal market and illicit gambling channels.

 Looking instead at the individual gaming categories, stands out the data for amusement machines, which contributed almost 45% of the total revenue. A statistic that might indicate players' preferences and tastes, but which should also be evaluated in view of the tax pressure which these games are subjected, the highest in the whole sector.

 Numerical games and lotteries also remained untouched, contributing just over 39 percent to the treasury, while betting and other games covered the remaining uncovered share. 

 A very important sector for the economy of the country, which will soon be faced with the increasingly urgent need for reorganisation, to resolve what Saracchi calls fragmented legislative instruments. "Bringing together under a single gaming code that can carefully regulate and protect players in all kinds of aspects, both procedural and legislative, is what we are looking forward to.But the government certainly has clear ideas about this aspect because it is working on the reorganisation in an important way,' commented the Agency's games director.

 Public game is always a controversial topic, which divides public opinion into opposing poles. It is a fact, however, that it makes a not inconsiderable contribution to the public finances, as the graphic extracted from Gaming Reportshows.

 Obviously, this component also contributes to the debate, but the concessionary system of public gaming management that we have in Italy is taken as a model internationally.

 Indeed, the 2022 data analysed by the specialist blog of Gaming Report turns out to be particularly good. In the first three quarters, the results for the whole of 2020 have almost been levelled out, with a forecast of particularly good revenues for the entire fiscal year.

 Leaving aside for a moment the first year in which the pandemic affected the situation throughout the entire national territory, invalidating even the public gaming revenues, just looking ahead to 2021 to understand that the legal gaming sector is going through a period of growth.

 Compared to last year, an increase of 40.41 per cent was observed in tax revenue, amounting to 7.76 billion euro. And this is only for the first nine months of the year. It is the opinion of ADM's games director Stefano Saracchi that the overall results in 2022 will be the highest ever in fiscal terms for the public gaming sector.

 A result achieved, Saracchi explains in a video published in the Agimeg Press Agency, thanks to the successful operation of converting users to the legal channel, an outcome of the ongoing fight that the ADM has been waging for years against the illegal market and illicit gambling channels.

 Looking instead at the individual gaming categories, stands out the data for amusement machines, which contributed almost 45% of the total revenue. A statistic that might indicate players' preferences and tastes, but which should also be evaluated in view of the tax pressure which these games are subjected, the highest in the whole sector.

 Numerical games and lotteries also remained untouched, contributing just over 39 percent to the treasury, while betting and other games covered the remaining uncovered share.

A very important sector for the economy of the country, which will soon be faced with the increasingly urgent need for reorganisation, to resolve what Saracchi calls fragmented legislative instruments. "Bringing together under a single gaming code that can carefully regulate and protect players in all kinds of aspects, both procedural and legislative, is what we are looking forward to.But the government certainly has clear ideas about this aspect because it is working on the reorganisation in an important way,' commented the Agency's games director.

 DOHA-- There were many question marks about what Qatar would put on the ground -- from the organization of football fans, the accessibility of the stadiums, hotels, accommodation in general and also how journalists would work.

After a month of matches, we can certainly sum up what we have seen and experienced about the organisation by both the International Federation of Football Association and the Qatari government.

 With Argentina's success over France in the most epic and throbbing final of a World Cup, the curtain has fallen on Qatar 2022. A unique edition of the World Cup (the 22^nd one) which will remain forever (and in any case) in everyone's memory. Cancelled distances, iconic and hyper-technological stadiums (in comparison, what a sadness our old and decrepit plants - except those of Turin and Udine, in any case not comparable to the Qatari "grandeur"), all at hand (or by motorbike), all in the Doha area. Moreover, there were "prairies" of free parking and immense anti-stadiums, delegations of the 32 qualified teams staying for the entire period in exclusive retreat (with training centres attached), foreign fans welcomed and free buses available all around, reporters pampered and facilitated in their work, even two impressive press centres (one for the International Federation of Football Association accredited and the other one for the "Host Country", also of other nationalities). The scheduled events have been arranged to avoid overlapping and, thanks to the "high-speed" rails, and, since the day of the first phase, there was the possibility to follow all the three matches live. Security was guaranteed to the nth power.

 FANS

 First of all we can say that the fans have been welcomed in an excellent way. There have been no incidents between supporters and above all no organisational problems.

 All stadiums have been reached without any problems. All kinds of public transport were made available for the large number of people who arrived in Doha.

 But here in Doha, as we said before, it has been a whole new story. French supporters, for example, initially perplexed about flying to Qatar, have drastically changed their minds and now write in flattering terms commenting on their experience in the country of the Emir Al Thani, owner of Paris Saint-Germain in which stars like Mbappé, Messi, Neymar, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Danilo Pereira, Soler, Sarabia have shone: all protagonists during this phantasmagorical World Cup.

 “At first we were ashamed to say that we were going to Qatar, but we were wrong. Here we’ve had a wonderful time and the environment was absolutely astonishing’’: the statement of various groups of transalpine supporters interviewed by the correspondents of the newspaper "Le Monde".“We bought and drank all kinds of spirits. We also saw very sexy girls in the stands. Many Western media have manipulated public opinion by providing a distorted image of this nation. Come here and try to believe’’.

 In four years' time, however, we will have issues to unravel. The World Cup will be enlarged to 48 teams (the "format" has not yet officialised, perhaps 12 groups with even 104 games in total compared to the 8 groups and 64 competitions in Qatar) in three very large nations (Mexico, United States and Canada), three languages will be spoken (Spanish, English and French), huge distances will need to be covered (between Mexico City and Vancouver there are almost 5,000 kilometers, about 300 more than the route Rome-Addis Abeba, capital of Ethiopia... ), different time zones, long flights - often with the long and unnerving waiting time during the stopovers (because of the change of air carrier) - to reach the final destination, differences of climate and temperatures. I mean, that is going to be a crazy mess! With fans forced once more to suffer the consequences...

 STADIUMS

 Many have been the controversies over the building of stadiums in Qatar on the occasion of the World Cup.

 Yet here too, the International Federation of Football Association was totally right about geographical position, organisation and what the stadiums in Doha could represent.

 Particular attention has been paid to the issue of sustainability and the fight against all kinds of waste.

 In fact, the stadiums built in view of Qatar 2022 were intended to best host the event but also to not create new "white elephants" - as happened with the World Cup in South Africa or with the Olympics in Greece.

 The eight stadiums that hosted the World Cup, will reduce their capacity from a total of 380,000 seats to a capacity of 210,000 seats.

 The  170,000 exceeding seats will be dismantled and donated to developing countries for other sporting events.

 The materials used for the construction of these new infrastructures will be largely recycled, with the possibility of being dismantled and reused.

 Three out of eight stadiums used for the World Cup,will suffer a reduction in capacity but will remain real stadiums.

 The Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will be "dismantled" - after being built through various containers - while the other four stadiums will be reused as a home to shopping centers, hospitals and luxury hotels.

 Journalists

 The World Cup championship certainly delivers an important echo across the globe. It is probably the most emblematic event and this involves a peculiar concentration of media and international press.

 Hundreds of journalists have reached Qatar from all over the world, even from those countries that did not actively participate in the competition, but whose presence was important for the sake of reporting.

 On the eve of the tournament there were many doubts, yet, even in this case, the organization was able to give an excellent answer.

 Of course, everything new has got pros and cons. It was certainly not easy to manage thousands of people arriving in a small reality like Qatar.

 It has not been easy to organise all the international press, yet nothing has been left to chance.

 Each journalist was able to work in peace and manage his or her business at his or her best. All the positions used by reporters were provided with a smooth and comfortable connection.

 Despite a few minor problems in the opening of World Cup game, everything was settled and restored to its best the next day.

 If in this month we have received news in an accurate, punctual and precise way, it is definitely thanks to the work of the journalists who have been put in a position to carry out their duties as a World Cup would require.

 Impressive was the video presenting the official candidacy exclusively proposed to the International Federation of Football Association inspectors: a special three-dimensional room near the Aspire Academy in Doha, in September 2010, about three months before the historic decision in Zurich. Images of the main newspapers around the world were shown in rapid succession, overlapped by international presenters announcing the resounding news in their respective languages: "Qatar has won: it will organize the 2022 World Cup". "We knew it, everything was already planned for us, because our dossier was clearly the best one, not only the most endearing"- was stated by Nasser Al Khelaifi, president of the PSG, but, above all, operational arm of Emir Al Thani. Hats off!

 The President of the International Federation of Football association, Gianni Infantino, had announced that it would be the best World Cup ever. With hindsight, we can only agree with him. Thank you!

 jp-dk