Milan-Cortina 2026: the Italian Competition Authority issues fines of over €2.5 million for ambush marketing

The fined companies conducted advertising campaigns and promotional activities which frequently featured or evoked the Olympic symbols and emblems, and/or official names such as “Milano-Cortina/Milano-Cortina2026”. Investigations prompted by the monitoring activities of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Financial Police.

The Italian Competition Authority has closed its investigations launched starting from January 2026 into Harmont&Blaine S.p.A., Rialto S.p.A. (“Il Gigante” supermarkets), MD S.p.A. (“MD” supermarkets), Magazzini Gabrielli S.p.A. (“Oasi” supermarkets), RetailPro S.p.A. (“Pro7” supermarkets) and Butan Gas S.p.A., finding the companies to have breached the prohibition against ambush marketing. The companies have been fined over 2.5 million euro in total.

The investigations were launched following monitoring activities carried out by the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza). The Authority exercised its powers under Law Decree 16/2020 (converted by Law 31/2020) concerning ambush marketing. In particular, the Authority found that, despite not being the official sponsors of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the companies Harmont&Blaine S.p.A., Rialto S.p.A., MD S.p.A., Magazzini Gabrielli S.p.A., RetailPro S.p.A. and Butan Gas S.p.A. created an association between their brand and the Olympics, thereby misleading the public as to the identity of the official sponsors.

During the Olympic Games, the companies conducted advertising campaigns and promotional activities which frequently featured or evoked, in different forms, the Olympic symbols (five rings) and emblems, and/or official names such as “Milano-Cortina/Milano-Cortina2026”. These elements were found to amount to ambush marketing, in breach of the prohibition laid down in article 10 of Law Decree 16/2020.

Rome, 17 July 2026

Text of the decision Harmont & Blaine

Text of the decision Il Gigante

Text of the decision MD

Text of the decision Butan Gas

Text of the decision Oasi

Text of the decision PRO7