Vietnam seeks to legalise limited football sports betting

According to an anonymous Government official, the Vietnamese Finance Ministry is set to submit a proposal to Government for the approval of limited sports betting on pre-selected international football matches, Thanhnien News reports.

The proposal reportedly outlines limited sports betting on football matches selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and caps maximum wager amounts at VND 1 million ($45), an amount slammed by various organisations who say given the scale of underground betting with no wagering limits, the initiative will fail to attract bettors.

“Betting should be either banned or legalized. But it should not be half allowed like this,” Nguyen Hoang Hai, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors said commenting on the Ministry’s proverbial dip of the toe in the sports betting ocean.

“Rich people and big gamblers will still bet illegally,” Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management said, and National Assembly general secretary, Nguyen Hanh Phuc, agrees, saying only poor people would gamble under the proposed rule.

“The regulation aims at keeping a careful eye on gamblers and step-by-step development to avoid regrettable consequences,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying. “The draft excludes people under 18, those with mental or civilian incompetency and illegal immigrants.”

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