The Lazio Regional Council has approved its 2025-2027 Three-Year Regional Plan to Combat Pathological Gambling and Addiction, allocating more than €29m ($31.3m) in national funding to prevention, treatment and social inclusion measures.
The plan will apply across Rome and the wider Lazio region, with approximately €27m drawn from the Pathological Addiction Fund, equal to around €9m per year.
A further €2m from the Prevention and Recovery Fund will be directed to accredited therapeutic communities.
The programme is structured around prevention, system strengthening, treatment and inclusion, with a focus on minors, vulnerable groups and people not currently supported by addiction services.
Interventions will include school-based prevention activity, recreational programmes, mobile harm reduction units and strengthened early diagnosis pathways.
The plan also includes protocols for prisoners and people subject to alternatives to detention.
Lazio said the model will involve local health authorities, public service bodies and third-sector organisations, linking clinical treatment with social reintegration.
The regional framework also includes plans for housing access, job placement support, new hires, operator training and epidemiological research to identify hidden gambling harm.
The approval comes as Italy continues to reassess elements of its gambling framework. The national ADM plan for 2025-2027 places player protection, licensed market controls and action against illegal operators among its priorities, while the Italian Government has also been working through wider reforms for land-based gambling.
Italy’s responsible gambling policy remains closely tied to its advertising environment.
The 2018 Dignity Decree introduced strict limits on gambling advertising and sponsorship, including in sport, with the stated aim of reducing gambling-related harm.
That framework has remained politically contested, particularly as Italian football clubs and licensed operators continue to argue over the commercial effects of the ban and the visibility of unlicensed or offshore brands.
The Lazio plan therefore sits within a broader national debate over how Italy balances harm prevention, regulated market oversight and commercial restrictions in gambling.
In related news, Democratic Party MPs asked ministers to assess whether SS Lazio’s multi-year shirt sponsorship with Polymarket is compatible with Italian gambling, advertising and consumer protection rules.
The plan includes research aimed at identifying gambling consumers who are not currently receiving support from public services
