Serie A football club Cagliari has signed a deal with an online gambling company, despite the increase in gambling restrictions announced in the country.
Cagliari have signed up with K8 in a deal that will see
the Asian betting firm become the club’s official betting partner. The deal also
marks a significant step for K8, which has been able to associate itself with a
high profile European team despite the ongoing uncertainty over the COVID-19
outbreak.
The deal was put together by Hashtage Sport, which is known for brokering deals
between Asian-based companies and football clubs. In a statement on the deal, a
spokesperson for Hashtage said that they were delighted to announce the deal,
which is the second time that they have arranged a partnership with a Serie A
club. And the statement also expressed their hope for the immediate future in
Italy, which is currently in the middle of a national shutdown:
“We would like to thank our client, K8 for their trust and support towards Cagliari despite the suspension of Serie A. We hope the epidemic situation in Italy and around the world will improve as soon as possible and everyone will be able to return to their normal life.”
Hashtage also revealed that the negotiation process for the deal had been ongoing for several weeks, but that in view of the current situation in Italy, they had decided to cancel the press conference announcing the deal, as health and safety took priority.
The deal comes at a difficult time for the Italian betting industry. Last year,
the governing 5Star-DP coalition brought in measures to cut the number of licensed
Italian online betting operators to 50, as part of their aim of reducing the number
of gamblers in Italy.