Racing at risk as the rising tide of puritanism threatens to swamp betting

A new era dawned for the Italian betting industry last Sunday, when the sweeping gambling restrictions introduced by the country's populist coalition government the previous year took full force, effectively banning any advertising by betting operators.

The law was introduced by a radical new administration that claimed betting advertising represented a public health risk and ignored warnings by the industry and its own treasury that the move would hit tax receipts.

Could something similar happen here? Richard Flint, the former Sky Bet chief executive who helped build the firm into a digital colossus, warns today that it could. Flint should be listened to – during his tenure he frequently, and perceptively, warned that betting's failure to grapple with problem gambling and the loss of public trust was a ticking time bomb.