This is the content mentioned in the Draft Decree on Betting Business for Horse Racing, Greyhound Racing, and International Football
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According to the draft Decree, the Ministry of Information and Communications is responsible for directing enterprises providing internet services, network infrastructure providers, online social network service providers, telecommunications enterprises and cooperating with the Ministry of Public Security to prevent the provision of betting services via computer networks, telecommunications networks, and the internet from abroad to Vietnamese in the country, meaning that the distribution of betting tickets via the Internet is not permitted and should only be distributed via telephone and other telecommunications means when meeting the condition of having at least 5 years of experience in betting business activities for the method of distributing tickets through terminal devices in Vietnam.
Previously, on April 14, 2014, the Office of the Government of Vietnam issued Official Communication 2520/VPCP-KTTH requesting the Ministry of Finance to study and establish regulations on horse racing betting, dog racing betting, and a pilot scheme for international football betting. The types of betting mentioned in the Draft Decree include horse racing betting, dog racing betting, and sports betting. This project was subsequently presented by the Ministry of Finance to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly a few years ago but still needed amendments and completions. Currently, as the Ministry of Finance recently presented this draft decree to the Government of Vietnam, the Government of Vietnam requested the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to implement the contents as presented to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
Betting forms such as horse racing, dog racing, and football betting have long been in existence but these activities were unregulated and illegal, therefore causing numerous issues and with many violators. Hence, it is necessary to regulate this type of entertainment to facilitate better management and prevent it from becoming a societal issue.
This type of betting is quite popular among the participants as long as the players are individuals with full civil act capacity, including overseas Vietnamese or foreigners legally entering Vietnam. However, limitations apply to managers, executives, employees of the betting enterprises, or members of the race monitoring council to participate in betting races they are supervising, to ensure objectivity and fairness in betting activities.
The draft Decree also stipulates a minimum bet amount per time of 10,000 dong (ten thousand dong), with a maximum bet unit per choice not exceeding 10,000 dong (ten thousand dong) and in one day, the maximum betting amount per player cannot exceed 1,000,000 dong (one million dong). Such monetary restrictions are reasonable as this is a recreational activity, allowing even low-income individuals to participate in this type of entertainment while controlling the extent of players' participation to avoid excessive addiction to winning.
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Particularly for international football betting, there needs to be specific regulations on the method of ticket distribution, betting business locations, agents selling international football betting tickets, and the completion of conditions, criteria, and principles for the Ministry of Finance to specify the list of specific betting products. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will decide the list of international football tournaments.
The Ministry of Finance needs to review and complete the draft Decree to present to the Government of Vietnam before August 15, 2016.
