Betting Business: New Regulations Needed in the Spirit of Innovation

(PLVN) - After more than 7 years of implementing Decree 06/2017/ND-CP on horse racing, dog racing and international football betting, to date only one investor has been licensed to operate a dog racing betting business. There are too many legal issues surrounding this issue that is of concern to society.

12/02/2024 06:50

A dog racing track that once operated in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. (Photo: VNE)

(PLVN) - After more than 7 years of implementing Decree 06/2017/ND-CP on horse racing, dog racing and international football betting, to date only one investor has been licensed to operate a dog racing betting business. There are too many legal issues surrounding this issue that is of concern to society.

At the workshop "Contributing ideas to amend and supplement Decree 06/2017/ND-CP on betting business on horse racing, dog racing and international football (Decree 06)" recently organized by the Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE)/Investor Magazine (INVEST), Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Vice President of VAFIE said that betting business on horse racing, dog racing and international football is a common trend and is developing in many countries around the world and currently this industry has a total global revenue of up to hundreds of billions of USD.

In Vietnam, since 2017, the Government has issued Decree 06. However, many opinions say that this Decree has not yet been put into practice. Specifically, citing Article 67a of the 2018 Law on Physical Training and Sports, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mai, Chairman of VAFIE, affirmed that the regulations on betting business have been legalized but the implementation is not strict.

Referring to the draft Decree amending Decree 06, Mr. Mai pointed out a series of inappropriate regulations, such as regulations on: Methods of distributing betting tickets; Contribution level of 5% of revenue from piloting international football betting business; regulations on advertising; transitional regulations...

“We believe that the Government cannot delay any longer the issuance of a new Decree on sports betting to implement the 2018 Law on Physical Training and Sports in the direction of applying digital technology and taking advantage of a number of information technology centers to limit illegal betting, facilitate partners to participate, and make this potential market healthier,” Mr. Mai suggested.

Emphasizing the illegal betting and gambling that has infiltrated and attracted a large number of participants, costing a large amount of money, Mr. Hoang Ngoc Nhat, Chairman of Thien Phuc Joint Stock Company, said that according to calculations, every year at least 5 - 6 billion USD, at most 9 - 10 billion USD is spent in this field (mostly on football betting). "Most of this money flows abroad. If managed and controlled, it will prevent the loss of resources and money and can collect a large amount of tax," said Mr. Nhat.

After 7 years of implementing Decree 06, there is only 1 investor licensed to do dog racing betting (horse racing and football are not yet available), the Chairman of Thien Phuc Joint Stock Company said: "It is not that there are no investors, but as far as we know, there are many investors who want to invest in projects, especially football betting. But when approaching the regulations of Decree 06, they find that there are many legal problems, there are unreasonable things, difficult to do and if they do, they will definitely lose money...", at the same time recommending that the Government should soon issue a new Decree to replace Decree 06...

According to Dr. Mai Liem Truc - former President of the Vietnam Football Federation, it is necessary to issue a new Decree to replace Decree 06. However, the method of implementation must be completely new. Accordingly, Mr. Truc suggested that in the immediate future, there should be a Decree regulating a 3-4 year pilot period, then issue a replacement Decree like when the internet was first introduced to Vietnam.

“In terms of how to do it, we should rely on experts and research groups. Don’t worry that we can’t manage it, there are traces of everything,” Mr. Truc suggested.

Agreeing with the need for a new Decree in the spirit of innovation, not "if you can't manage it, then ban it", Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, former Director of the Department of Large Enterprise Tax (General Department of Taxation) said that currently the need to participate in betting is real and we are "flowing" a lot of money, unofficial players are violating the law. "There needs to be a new Decree to regulate this activity, helping the State have a new source of tax revenue, and players are controlled" - Mr. Phung suggested.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/kinh-doanh-dat-cuoc-can-co-quy-dinh-moi-tren-tinh-than-doi-moi-post533563.html