Football betting is a very common phenomenon and this is also a painful and deplorable problem in today’s society. Because, the ball betting behavior has led to extremely serious consequences, affecting not only the participants but also the family, relatives, and the whole society.

In order to prevent and eliminate this phenomenon from social life, the law has its own regulations for those who participate in this betting. So is betting gambling? How will football betting in Vietnam be sanctioned?

Legal basis:

• Penal Code 2015 was amended and supplemented in 2017
• Decree No. 167/2013/ND-CP on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of security and order. social safety; prevention of social evils; fire prevention and fighting’ domestic violence prevention and control.

1. What is betting?

Betting is the act of using money or other assets to bet on the conjecture of the outcome of an upcoming or ongoing event that has not yet ended or is also understood as a monetary loss on the winning and losing scores of sports matches.

The English term is: “Wager”

2. Is football betting a gamble?

According to Point b Clause 4 Article 1 of Resolution No. 01/2010/NQ – BOD Guiding the application of a number of provisions in Articles 248 and 249 of the Penal Code on Gambling Crimes are prescribed as follows:

” b) In case of gambling in the form of playing numbers, betting on football, betting on horse racing… then once playing numbers, once betting on football, once betting on horse racing… (to count as a gamble) is understood as participating in a lot, participating in betting in a football match, participating in betting in a horse race… in which players can play in multiple batches. The criminal liability defined for single-gamblers in these cases is the total amount of money and in-kind value used to play in those tranches.”

Thus, football betting is also a gambling act and has sanctions.

3. How will football betting in Vietnam be sanctioned?

Betting is a gambling act, so when violating, it will be sanctioned according to the law, depending on the extent, nature and scale of betting, but there are separate sanctions: administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution.

According to Article 26 of Decree 67/2013/ND-CP:

1. A warning or a fine ranging from VND 200,000 to VND 500,000 for the purchase of lot numbers and issue numbers.

2. A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following gambling acts:

a) Illegal gambling in one of the forms such as disc jockeys, slapsticks, shrimp nests, tumbles, three daisies, 3 trees, four colors, red and black, chess or other forms that are gained or lost with money or in kind;

b) Gambling with illegal machines or electronic games;

c) Betting with money or in other forms in sports competitions, entertainment and other activities;

d) Selling heading boards and other publications for batching.

3. A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Receiving deposits, pawning, or lending at casinos or other gambling places;

b) Concealing illegal gambling.

4. A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of organizing gambling:

a) Risking, enticing, or gathering others to gamble illegally;

b) Using their houses, accommodations, or other means or places to store silver;

c) Placing illegal slot machines and electronic games;

d) Organizing illegal money-betting activities.

5. A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of organizing the assessment:

a) Owning lots and titles;

b) Organize the production and distribution of heading boards and other publications for batching and headings;

c) Organize the network to sell lot numbers and problem numbers;

d) Organizing betting in sports and entertainment competitions or under other activities to gambling money.

6. Additional sanctions:

Confiscation of exhibits and means of administrative violations and confiscation of money due to administrative violations for acts specified in Clause 1; Clause 2; Point a Clause 3; Points b, c, d, Clause 4, and Clause 5 of this Article.

7. Foreigners who commit administrative violations specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Article, depending on the seriousness of their violations, may be subject to sanctions for expulsion from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

Depending on each case, there are corresponding penalties, when there are not enough grounds to pursue criminal liability, the act of betting on football will be administratively sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of law.

When the act of betting on football has all the elements constituting a gambling crime, it will be examined for criminal liability for gambling, which is specified in Article 321 of the 2015 Penal Code:

Gambling offenses

1. Any person who gambles illegally in any form is entitled to lose money or in kind worth from VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000 or less than VND 5,000,000, has been sanctioned for administrative violations of this act or the act specified in Article 322 of this Code or convicted of this crime or the crime specified in Article 322 of this Code, if the criminal record has not been expunged but also violated, it shall be punished with non-custodial rehabilitation for up to 03 years or imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

2. Committing an offense in one of the following cases shall be punished with imprisonment from 03 years to 07 years:

a) Being of a professional nature;

b) Money or gambling artifacts worth VND 50,000,000 or more;

c) Using the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, and electronic means to commit crimes;

d) Dangerous recidivism.

3. Offenders can also be fined from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.”

Gambling constitutes a crime when the money or gambling artifacts of each gambling are worth 5 million VND or more. Money or artifacts used for gambling are things that can be seized directly at the gambling venue, in the gambler, or elsewhere where there are sufficient grounds to determine that it has been or will be used for gambling.

The subject of this crime is a person who reaches the statutory age and has the capacity for criminal liability. The motive for the crime is to punish each other, self-interest and the purpose is to take money and property from the loser.

Accordingly, the 2015 Penal Code stipulates 2 penalty frames for gambling offenders:

– For the basic penalty frame, offenders may be punished with a non-custodial rehabilitation penalty of up to 03 years or imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

– For an aggravated penalty, the offender may be punished with a penalty of imprisonment from 03 years to 07 years applicable to the following offenses:

+ Professional is a case of gambling five or more times in which the total amount and value of gambling artifacts of each gambling is equal to or above the minimum level to pursue criminal liability and take in-kind money due to gambling as the main source of life.

+ Money or gambling artifacts worth VND 50 million or more

+ Using the internet, computer networks, telecommunications networks, and electronic means to commit crimes

+ Dangerous recidivism

Not only that, in addition to applying the penalty, the offender himself may be subject to an additional penalty of being fined from VND 10 million to VND 50 million.

In conclusion, football betting in Vietnam is a form of gambling and will be sanctioned depending on the extent, scale, and nature of the act as prescribed by law.

4. Current situation of football betting in Vietnam:

Vietnam’s football betting market is currently very active and can be said to be very strong, as a “trend” and attracting a lot of participants without age restrictions. In the era of technology 4.0, online football betting is becoming more and more popular, appearing densely on forums, and social networking sites.

When participating in online betting, players will be consulted, guided wholeheartedly, and even financially supported players, so its spread is increasingly large and strong. With the emergence of betting websites such as Kubet DK, betting organizations mushroomed in disguised forms of business, fast, compact, fast, and convenient payment methods. Because of this, it creates difficulties in managing as well as detecting betting behaviors.

Recently, there have been many groups betting through the dismantled betting states, with a total participation amount of up to trillions of dong. However, this situation is still extremely complicated and there are variations to hide their criminal acts, even tending to organize transnational, foreign subjects colluding with domestic entities to build a network of large betting organization lines for both Vietnamese and foreigners. The consequences of betting are very heavy, affecting the player himself, his family, and society, which is a risk to society. There have been many broken families, debts due to losing football betting, murders, robberies, and property thefts occurring because of a lack of money, and of passion for betting