In Vietnam, shall persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification face administrative fines? May persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification be liable to criminal prosecution?
- In Vietnam, shall persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification face administrative fines?
- In Vietnam, may persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification be liable to criminal prosecution?
- What is the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of professional football betting in Vietnam?
In Vietnam, shall persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification face administrative fines?
Under Clause 2, Article 28 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP:
Illegal gambling
1. A fine of from VND 200.000 to VND 500.000 shall be imposed for participation in lottery-based gambling:
2. A fine of from VND 1.000.000 to VND 2.000.000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:
a) Illegally gambling with one of the forms such as “xoc dia”, “ta la”, “to tom”, “tu lo kho”, “tam cuc”, “3 cay”, “tu sac”, “do den”, “co the”, “binh an do 6 la”, “binh xap xam 13 la”, “tien len 13 la”, “da ga”, “tai xiu” or other forms which are lost or won in cash, property or in kind;
b) Gambling with machine or illegal electronic games;
c) Illegally betting in sports competition, entertainment or other activities.
3. A fine of from VND 2.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:
a) Illegally receiving deposit, pawn or loan at casinos or other gambling places;
b) Selling illegal lottery number, lottery sheet or printed matters used for playing illegal lottery; handing them over to another person to receive commissions;
c) Assisting, concealing the illegal gambling;
d) Protecting illegal casinos or other gambling places;
dd) An owner, a manager of machine or illegal electronic games, a head of business establishment in term of electronic games or another business establishment allows illegal gambling to happen at their establishments due to lack of sense of responsibility
...
According to the above regulations, persons illegally betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will be administratively fined from 1,000,000 VND to 2,000,000 VND. The minimum stake subject to administrative fines is not specified.
Thus, even with a small stake, persons illegally betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will still face administrative fines.
At the same time, the following additional penalties are also imposed:
- Confiscation of the exhibits and means of administrative violations
- Expulsion of foreigners committing the above violations.
Remedial measures: Mandatory return of the illegal profits earned from the commission of administrative violations.
Note: The above fine shall be imposed for administrative violations by individuals. For organizations, the fine equals 2 times the fine for individuals.
In Vietnam, may persons betting on football during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification be liable to criminal prosecution?
Under Article 321 of the 2015 Criminal Code as amended by Clause 120, Article 1 of the Law on amendments to Criminal Code 2017:
Illegal gambling
1. A person who illegally gambles in any shape or form with the stakes (in cash or kind) assessed at from VND 5,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000, or under VND 5,000,000 despite the fact that he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof or has an unspent conviction for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof shall be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, face a penalty of up to 03 year's community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment.”
2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 03 - 07 years' imprisonment:
a) The offence is committed in a professional manner;
b) The stake is assessed at VND ≥ 50,000,000;
c) The offence is committed using the Internet, a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic means;
d) Dangerous recidivism.
3. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.
Thus, a person betting on football with the stakes (in cash or kind) assessed from VND 5,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000, or under VND 5,000,000 even though he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for football betting may be liable to criminal prosecution from 06 - 36 months' imprisonment.
In case such person bets on football in a professional manner or with stakes assessed at more than VND 50 million or uses the Internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic means to bet on football or commits dangerous recidivism, he/she may be liable to criminal prosecution from 03-07 years’' imprisonment.
In addition, football bettors who are prosecuted for criminal liability may also be fined from 10 million to 50 million VND.
In addition, Official Dispatch 196/TANDTC-PC in 2018 guides using the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, and electronic means for football betting as follows:
Using the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, and electronic means to commit crimes specified at Point c, Clause 2, Article 321 and Point c, Clause 2, Article 322 of the Criminal Code shall be understood as the use of the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks and electronic means for online gambling (such as the formation of online gambling shows or the use of networks Internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, electronic means for organizing gambling or running gambling-dens).
The offender's use of the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, and other electronic means to communicate with each other (e.g. texting by phone, via email, zalo, Viber.... to score numbers, bingo, horse racing betting...) without forming games that are lost in money or kind online do not fall into the case of "Using the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks and electronic means to commit crimes" specified at Point c, Clause 2, Article 321 and Point c, Clause 2, Article 322 of the Criminal Code.
What is the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of professional football betting in Vietnam?
According to current regulations, football betting is professional gambling and the bettor may face a maximum penalty of 07 years’ imprisonment.
Under the provisions of Article 9 of the 2015 Criminal Code as amended by Clause 2, Article 1 of the Law on amendments to Criminal Code 2017 as follows:
Classification of crimes
1. Crimes defined in this Code are classified into 04 categories according to their nature and danger to society:
a) Less serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is not significant and for which the maximum sentence defined by this Code is a fine, community sentence (non-custodial), or 03 years' imprisonment;
b) Serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is significant and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this Code is from over 03 years' to 07 years' imprisonment;
c) Very serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is great and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this Code is from over 07 years' to 15 years' imprisonment;
d) Extremely serious crime means a crime whose danger to society is enormous and for which the maximum sentence of the bracket defined by this Code is from over 15 years' to 20 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death.
2. Crimes committed by corporate legal entities are classified by their nature and danger to society as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article. The same are applied to the crimes specified in Article 76 hereof.
In addition, based on 27 of the 2015 Criminal Code:
Statute of limitations for criminal prosecution
1. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution is a statute of limitations set out by this document and upon the expiration of which the offender does not face any criminal prosecution.
2. statute of limitationss for criminal prosecution:
a) 05 years for less serious crimes;
b) 10 years for serious crimes;
c) 20 years for very serious crimes;
d) 20 years for extremely serious crimes.
3. The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution begins from the day on which the crime is committed. During the statute of limitations set out in Clause 2 of this Article, if the offender commits another crime for which the maximum sentence is over 1 year's imprisonment, the statute of limitations for prosecution for the previous crime will be reset and begins from the day on which the new crime is committed.
During the statute of limitations set out in Clause 2 of this Article, if the offender deliberately evades capture and a wanted notice has been issued, the statute of limitations will begin when he/she turns himself/herself in or gets arrested.
According to the above regulations, football betting, which is professional gambling, is a serious crime.
Thus, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of professional football betting in Vietnam is 10 years.
*Notes:
The statute of limitations for criminal prosecution begins from the day on which the crime is committed. During the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution, if the offender commits another crime for which the maximum sentence is over 1 year's imprisonment, the statute of limitations for prosecution for the previous crime will be reset and begins from the day on which the new crime is committed
During the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution, if the offender deliberately evades capture and a wanted notice has been issued, the statute of limitations will begin when he/she turns himself/herself in or gets arrested.
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