\u201cInfections have plateaued at a high level and even schools are closed if the rate goes above 250 per 100,000,\u201d DiScala said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Italy has seen close to 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began. More than 98,000 residents of Italy died from the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Lockdown Continues<\/h2>\n
The earliest legal gambling could be reviewed in Italy is April 6, SBC News<\/em> reported. Given the closures, Italy\u2019s arcades, betting shops, bingo, casinos, and gaming halls could be placed in lockdown for a full year, SBC said.<\/p>\nOutrage over the lockdown last month led to unions representing an estimated 150,000 workers in the gambling sector to protest in Milan and Rome.<\/p>\n
\n
Recently, a compromise proposal was floated to lift restrictions on legal gaming operations if they were located in provinces where COVID-19 infection rates were relatively low. But that option has been rejected by Draghi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In the past month, some attractions, bars, cafes, museums, and restaurants reopened in select areas of Italy with lower coronavirus risk. Health precautions remain in place.<\/p>\n
Based on recent data, licensed gaming venues in Italy generate 4.5 billion Euros per year in taxes. That translates to about US$5.4 billion.<\/p>\n
Mafia Trial Underway in Italy<\/h2>\n
Worries about organized crime taking over more gambling in Italy comes as a massive Mafia trial is underway in the nation.<\/p>\n
On trial are 355 suspected members and accomplices of the \u2019Ndrangheta<\/a> crime syndicate. The syndicate is accused of illegal gambling, murder, and other major crimes.<\/p>\nIn 2015, authorities conducted a sting targeting 1,500 \u2019Ndrangheta betting shops and 82 online gambling sites, the Daily Mail<\/em> reported.<\/p>\nThe \u2019Ndrangheta is made up of about 6,000 members, the FBI said. It is considered more powerful than Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Naples-based Camorra, news reports reveal.<\/p>\n
For instance, the \u2019Ndrangheta controls 80 percent of the European cocaine supply, reports claim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government shutdown of Italy\u2019s legal gaming venues by the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to organized crime filling the demand with illegal options, warns a former Italian Senator and academic. When asked about the current policy, Gianfranco Pasquino told Casino.org, \u201cMy only preoccupation concerns the likelihood that keeping legal gambling venues closed, all or much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":166134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Italy\u2019s Criminal Syndicates Could Fill Gambling Void, Ex-Politician Warns<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n