Vietnam to allow betting on international soccer competitions
VIETNAM — Vietnamese gamblers will soon be allowed to place bets on international soccer competitions under a pilot project. Under the decree signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that takes effect by the end of March, Vietnamese over 21 years of age will be allowed to place bets of up to $44 a day, with a minimum bet of 44 cents. The government will allow only one company to do this business during the five-year trial period and that company must have an investment capital of at least 1 trillion dong ($44 million). After the five-year period, the government will decide whether to continue the arrangement. The decree also allows betting on local horse and dog races. Last month, the government issued a decree allowing local people into casinos, which had been open only to foreigners. Vietnam has long banned most types of gambling, but Vietnamese are passionate about soccer and bets on European soccer games are very common. There are no official figures on how much money have been placed on illegal soccer bets, but police nationwide have busted multiple illegal soccer betting rings in recent years. Last June, police in central Quang Binh province arrested 13 people for their involvement in a ring that organized bets on European soccer, with betting amounting to $132 million. Vietnamese police last month broke up a US$13 million (S$19 million) online gambling ring, arresting six people in the latest bust in a country where betting is banned. Gambling is illegal in Vietnam outside of a state-run lottery and a few foreigneronly casinos. But the law is widely flouted, especially in the run-up to major sporting events when many punters turn to illegal gambling dens or place bets online. Five people were arrested Ho Chi Minh City and one taken into custody in Hanoi on Tuesday, a police official told AFP, requesting anonymity. According to police’s official newspaper Cong An Nhan Dan, the gang was behind a betting website launched in 2015 and run by a firm in the Philippines. “The total amount of transactions from 2015 until now reached more than US$13 million,” the report said, citing police statistics.
(wp)