The Ministry of Finance is drafting a decree amending and supplementing Decree 06/2017/ND-CP of the Government on betting business (horse racing, greyhound racing and international football).

In this draft decree, the Ministry of Finance names 27 football tournaments and nine football matches that Vietnamese can bet on, including the qualifying round and final round of the FIFA World Cup for men and women, UEFA Euro, UEFA Champions League, AFC Champions League, AFC Cup, Copa America, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and EPL.

Photo: No business has been allowed yet to pilot international football betting business in Vietnam.

The draft decree still maintains the betting limit of 10,000 VND/time and a maximum of 1 million VND/product/day. Participants must be 21 years of age or older.

The minimum bet is still 10,000 VND, equivalent to the face value of the lottery ticket. The maximum level of 1 million VND was done to control players' passion and prevent harm to their finances as well as keep security and social order. After five years of implementation, the limit may be changed.

The Ministry of Finance has continued to licence only one investor to provide international football betting business for five years, arguing that this is a new type of business with negative social impact, so Vietnam should implement it carefully to ensure strict management by state management agencies. China, Singapore, and South Korea also allow only one business to provide betting services on international football.

After five years of implementation, relevant agencies will jointly evaluate, summarize and submit to authorities to decide whether to continue to licence the international football betting business and the number of businesses licenced to offer the service if the business is maintained.

The Ministry of Finance has also made specific proposals on the bidding process to select the business that will be allowed to provide this service.

Ha Duy

Football betting: billions of US dollars run overseas each year

Football betting has existed in social life in Vietnam for decades. Gamblers bet on football matches at both domestic and international tournaments.