Vietnam might have passed a bill last week allowing locals to bet on international football but the new law, which comes into affect next year, arrives too late for the current World Cup in Russia amid revelations that not a single betting agent or operator applied for a license under a sports betting pilot program.
The Vietnamese government announced last year that it would launch the program from April 2018 allowing one selected betting operator to offer legal sports betting on some sports, including FIFA-sanctioned international football matches excluding those involving Vietnam.
However, local media is reporting that not a single operator has applied for the pilot license on offer due to the limited betting options available and confusion over the bidding process itself.
According to English language newspaper VnExpress, the inability to offer bets on the most popular football leagues such as the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga make football betting far less attractive for operators with the lack of action at tournaments such as the World Cup likely leading to heavy losses.
Under the pilot program, the maximum daily amount that can be bet by each person is just VND1 million (US$44).
Illegal betting on football is estimated to sit in the billions in Vietnam each year, with the new bill passed by the Vietnam National Assembly last week aimed at addressing the problem. Details of the new sports betting regulations and what sports or leagues will be covered are yet to be finalized.
