Ethics Policy

Last updated: May 2026

This page sets out the editorial ethics framework for Football Insider. The page is referenced by the Site’s NewsMediaOrganization schema as the ethicsPolicy for Trust Project transparency. The framework is informed by major journalism-ethics codes (SPJ Code of Ethics, the Reuters Standards and Values, the BBC Editorial Guidelines) and adapted to the specifics of football journalism and our editorial scale.

1. Independence

Football Insider is not owned or controlled by any football club, league, broadcaster, betting operator, agent, or sports-marketing company. The publisher (Giovanni Picaro) and the editorial team have no positions on football-club boards, no roles in football-governance bodies, and no contractual relationships with football organizations beyond ordinary supporter / fan relationships.

Editorial decisions are made independently of:

• Display-advertising relationships (Google AdSense; Mediavine where applicable).
• Affiliate-marketing relationships (kit retailers, merchandise, books, sports-streaming where legal).
• Football clubs, players, or agents who may seek favorable coverage.
• Other publications, news organizations, or media partners.

The editorial wall is described in detail on Editorial Independence.

2. Conflicts of interest

Editorial-team members disclose any conflicts of interest that could affect coverage:

• Personal supporter affiliations. Each writer has clubs they personally support. Where a writer covers a club they personally support, the personal affiliation is disclosed in the article’s editorial note. Writers do not write principal coverage of their own clubs in match-aftermath contexts where supporter perspective could shape framing.
• Personal relationships with players, agents, club officials, or other sports figures. Writers with such relationships do not write coverage about those individuals or their immediate context.
• Financial interests. No editorial-team member holds equity stakes in football clubs, betting operators, sports-marketing firms, or other entities whose business directly intersects with our coverage.

Where a previously undisclosed conflict comes to light, the relevant articles are reviewed and re-edited if necessary. Failure to disclose a material conflict is a serious editorial breach.

3. Gifts, travel, and hospitality

The editorial team does not accept:

• Gifts of more than nominal value (modest club merchandise sent unsolicited as press materials is acceptable; valuable gifts are returned or declined).
• Paid travel from football clubs, leagues, or sports-marketing organizations.
• Hospitality access (corporate boxes, VIP packages) from sources we cover, except where this is required for legitimate professional access (which is rare for our remote-coverage operation).
• Compensation from any football organization beyond ordinary commercial advertising relationships.

Where ordinary commercial advertising relationships exist (an advertiser running a campaign through Google AdSense who happens to be football-related), the editorial-commercial wall described on Editorial Independence applies.

4. Fairness to subjects

People we write about — players, managers, officials, club executives, agents — are treated fairly:

• Right of reply where applicable. For substantive accusatory or critical reporting about a named individual, we make a reasonable effort to reach the individual or their representative for comment before publication. Where comment is declined or no response is received within a reasonable window, the article notes this.
• Proportionate framing. Reporting on individuals reflects the actual evidence; we do not amplify minor failings into character assassination.
• Distinction between professional and personal. A player’s on-field performance is fair editorial subject. The same player’s private life is not, except where private-life issues become part of a publicly-relevant story (criminal matters, doping, substance abuse becoming a sporting issue) and even then with proportionate framing.
• Minors. Where coverage involves players under 18 (academy footballers, very young first-team debutants), we apply additional caution and avoid framing that could expose minors to disproportionate scrutiny.
• Family members of football figures are not the editorial subject; they appear in coverage only where directly relevant.

5. Hate speech, discrimination, and abuse

Football Insider does not publish content that:

• Promotes racism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim bias, anti-Asian bias, or any other ethnic or national hatred.
• Promotes homophobia, transphobia, or sexism.
• Promotes hatred against any other protected category.
• Glorifies hooliganism, ultras-violence, or supporter abuse of officials.
• Targets individuals (officials, players, managers) for online-mob abuse.

Discussion of these issues in football is welcome and important — the game has ongoing struggles with racism, with homophobia, with abuse of officials, with toxic-supporter behavior. Reporting on these problems is journalism. Promoting them is not. The line is not always crisp; the editorial-review pass on contentious content (see How We Cover Football) takes the line seriously.

Full positive framing on Diversity.

6. Betting and gambling content

Football Insider does not publish:

• Betting tips, picks, or tipster-style content.
• Promotional content for betting operators (no affiliate links to bookmakers, no registration prompts, no promotional codes).
• Content that could be read as solicitation to gamble.

Where betting odds are referenced editorially (e.g., describing the market context for a high-profile transfer rumour, or describing pre-match favorite/underdog framing), they are presented as informational sports data only. The full framework is on Gambling Content Policy; the underlying regulatory context is the Italian Decreto Dignità (D.L. 87/2018).

7. Privacy and personal data of subjects

• Publicly-available information about football figures (career history, contract details when officially announced, transfer fees when officially confirmed) is fair journalistic content.
• Private personal information — medical conditions not officially disclosed, personal-life details, family information — is not editorial content unless it becomes publicly relevant for a specific reason, in which case the framing is proportionate.
• Children of football figures are not editorial subjects.
• Player health information is reported as officially announced; speculation about specific medical conditions absent official disclosure is not appropriate.

8. Plagiarism and attribution

• Reporting from other outlets is attributed clearly. We do not republish other publications’ work without attribution.
• Unique observations, framings, and analytical insights from other writers are credited.
• Press-release content used as a starting point for our reporting is identified as such where the framing or wording is materially derived from the press release.
• Direct quotations are presented as direct quotations, not paraphrased into ours.
• Statistical claims are sourced with attribution to the data provider.

9. Engagement with the football community

• The team engages with the broader football discourse on social media in their professional capacities. Personal social-media accounts of editorial-team members are governed by the team member’s own conduct, but where the editorial role is identifiable, professional-conduct expectations apply.
• We do not engage in pile-on harassment of individuals, even of figures we report on critically.
• We do not block readers who criticize our coverage on the merits; we may block users engaging in harassment or abusive behavior.

10. Editorial errors and accountability

When we get things wrong, we acknowledge openly and correct per Corrections. Editorial accountability for errors is named — the writer who made an error is not anonymized in the correction process. Where errors reflect process issues, the process is reviewed and tightened.

11. Compliance with applicable law

Coverage operates within applicable Italian, EU, UK, and US law (depending on the audience and the topic). Specific frameworks: defamation law in the relevant jurisdictions; copyright law (see Copyright Notice); Italian Decreto Dignità for any betting-adjacent content; GDPR and equivalent data-protection frameworks for personal data.

12. Updates

This Ethics Policy is reviewed at least annually and updated where industry norms, applicable law, or operational experience identify the need. Updates are dated. Material changes that affect previously published content are addressed through review-and-revision of the affected content.

Related pages: Editorial Standards · Diversity · Editorial Independence · Gambling Content Policy · Corrections