The Olympic Games in Torino is in money trouble and obviously in so big problems that they have to rely on gambling to ensure a happy ending. The budget is now officially about 64 million Euros on the red side and in a desperate measure to at least cover some of it, the Italian Government has approved and agreed to introduce a lottery to reduce the deficit with up to 24 million Euros. (In general Italians love to play lottery, but of course the Government has no guarantee that this will be a success and reap the estimated benefits.)

The Torino Olympic Committee expected that the Government would spit in more, but the message from the finance minister Tremonti was clear: the Government will not give any more money to Toroc, which is a private entity. So now it's basically up to the region of Piemonte and the commune and province of Torino to cover the remaining 40 million and the national honour.
The City (Commune) of Torino has already suggested that it will sell several of the newly built houses in the Olympic Village to cover part of the deficit.
Nicely timed these news were released on December 22nd, just close enough to Christmas to avoid the havoc it could have otherwise unleashed.

Read more in Corriere (Italian)