Italy, SAPAR confirms Mario Mazzeo as National Secretary
Continuity at the top of SAPAR. The association’s Board of Directors, meeting in Rome on 29 July, unanimously confirmed lawyer Mario Mazzeo for another term as National Secretary.
The decision reinforces the current leadership structure under President Sergio D’Angelo. It comes at a particularly significant time for Italy’s regulated gaming sector, as the industry navigates an evolving regulatory landscape while increasingly looking beyond national borders towards Europe and the wider international market.
For Mazzeo, the appointment marks the continuation of a journey within SAPAR that began in 2019 and reached an important milestone in April 2023, when he was first elected National Secretary. On that occasion, too, the Board’s decision was unanimous. His confirmation three years later therefore sends a clear signal of continuity within the association’s governance.
“My first thought is to express my sincere gratitude for the renewed trust placed in me by SAPAR President Sergio D’Angelo, together with Vice-Presidents Patrizio Perla, Andrea Soriano, Francesco Gatti, and Walter Re, as well as every member of the Board of Directors, who today are the driving force behind an association I am proud to be part of,” Mazzeo told SiGMA News.
SAPAR expands its presence beyond Italy
Speaking exclusively to SiGMA News following his confirmation, Mazzeo looked beyond his new term, reflecting on how the association has evolved since he first became involved. “Since 2019, when I entered the world of trade associations, I have watched SAPAR grow steadily to the point where today it has an active presence both across Europe and internationally,” he said. His remarks highlight one of the directions in which the association has been moving. While SAPAR remains firmly rooted in representing Italy’s amusement and gaming machine sector, it has progressively broadened the scope of its relationships in recent years.
The market itself has changed too. Gaming can no longer be viewed solely through a national lens. Regulation, technology, payments, consumer protection, digitalisation, and emerging business models increasingly cut across different markets and jurisdictions.
For trade associations, this makes it increasingly important to have a voice wherever these changes are being discussed, bringing the experience and priorities of businesses operating on the ground into the wider international conversation. It is within this context that the collaboration between SAPAR and SiGMA World also takes shape, with Mazzeo citing the partnership as an example of the association’s growing international outlook.
“SiGMA’s arrival in Italy has helped create an international meeting point for the industry, connecting operators in the Italian market with companies, institutions, professionals, and stakeholders from a wide range of countries,” Mazzeo stressed. The partnership therefore gives SAPAR an additional platform for dialogue within an ecosystem that brings together operators, regulators, technology companies, investors, and professionals from across the international gaming industry.
The challenges facing Italy’s regulated gaming sector
Founded in 1962, SAPAR is one of Italy’s longest-established trade associations representing the amusement and gaming machine sector. Today, however, representing businesses across the supply chain means operating in an environment that looks very different from that of the past.
Italy’s regulated gaming sector is undergoing a period of transformation, encompassing the regulatory framework, the economic balance of the supply chain, and the relationship between national rules and regulations introduced at the local level. Several issues with a direct impact on operators remain on the table, from business sustainability and regulatory certainty to maintaining a strong legal market and protecting players. Dialogue among trade associations, the industry, and institutions will be crucial in shaping the sector’s future structure.
SAPAR has made institutional dialogue a central part of its work, repeatedly calling for operators to be directly involved in the processes that will shape the new regulatory framework, with particular attention to businesses operating across the land-based gaming supply chain. Against this backdrop, Mazzeo’s confirmation provides continuity within the National Secretariat just as the association prepares to enter a new phase in the debate over the industry’s future.
Mazzeo’s renewed mandate therefore begins with a SAPAR looking in two directions that it does not regard as mutually exclusive: representing Italian businesses and engaging with domestic institutions on the one hand, while building an increasingly structured presence in the international arenas where the industry’s future is being discussed on the other. Mazzeo chose to close his remarks to SiGMA News by recalling the words of SAPAR President Sergio D’Angelo during a previous interview with this publication. This time, the National Secretary echoed that message, reaffirming the direction of both his renewed mandate and the SAPAR of tomorrow: “The future has already begun.”
This article was originally published on the Italian SiGMA News page on 31 July 2026.
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