According to a government-run media outlet in Vietnam, The Ministry of Finance is revising a government decree that will relax the country’s restrictions on football betting. 

In 2017 sports betting was legalized in Vietnam, although was limited to football, horse racing and greyhound racing. 

As opposed to just FIFA run matches, VOV said the new draft decree will allow betting on 27 competitions in total, including the ‘big five’ European leagues, the Uefa Euro and Champions League, the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup, and the Copa America.

An existing betting limit of ND10,000/time (AUD $0.59) and a maximum of VND1 million/day (AUD $59) will remain, and bettors must be over the age of 21.

Firms that are running the betting business must be based in Vietnam and have a registered capital of more then VND1,000 billion (AUD $59 thousand), of which foreign investors’ equity can exceed 50%. 

Inside Asian Gaming reported earlier this year, that illegal betting was growing in Vietnam, estimated to account for US$10 billion (AUD n$13.4 billion) in annual turnover according to VietnamNet.

The report suggested that this was due to the overly stringent regulations set in 2017, with the current decree failing “to attract a single investor willing to test Vietnam’s legal sports betting waters.”

The Ministry of Finance affirmed this downfall, stating that the existing decree did not attract bookmakers as there are only a handful of official FIFA-run tournaments. 

In addition to FIFA events, the new decree will allow betting on some horse and groundhog races.