The Vietnamese government will require any parties interested in offering legal football betting to take part in a bidding process if they hope to be issued a license, local media reports.
According to Hanoi Times, the bidding process requirement forms part of a recently issued government decree, Decree 23/2024, which states that potential investors in football betting must operate in accordance with the nation’s Bidding Law.
However, recent history suggests attracting such investors under the current system could prove difficult. In 2017, Decree 06 authorized the operation of a five-year pilot program under which selected companies would be able to offer football betting on UEFA-sanctioned leagues, however the requirements placed on investors – including a minimum charter capital of VND1 trillion (US$43.5 million) – ultimately failed to attract a single investor willing to test Vietnam’s legal sports betting waters, and no such approval was ever issued.
In response, the government in 2021 proposed amending Decree 06 to add more global football events to those that would become legal to bet on, including Europe’s major leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, AFC Cup and Copa America. The amendment was also to allow for betting on matches in which Vietnam takes part, such as World Cup qualifiers, the Olympics, Asian Cup, AFC U-23 Championship and U-20 World Cup, but the amended decree was never issued.
Vietnam’s stringent sports betting regulations have been blamed for a rise in illegal football betting in recent years, estimated at around US$10 billion annually.
