The 2024 European Football Championship (Euro) is currently underway, attracting a large number of fans who are following it with great interest.
However, alongside this major sporting event comes a significant increase in gambling. Football betting is a form of gambling that has existed for a long time, and in the current era, exploiting the internet, the methods and tactics of those involved are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Football betting is the root cause of many other crimes and violations of the law such as: "loan sharking," fraud, robbery, theft of property...
Every time a major football tournament comes around, the worry about football betting becomes a haunting concern for the family of Mr. TVT in Cau Dien ward, Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi . Because, what started as small bets for fun with friends has resulted in Mr. T losing hundreds of millions of dong on online football betting.
People watch football at a cafe in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Huyen
Mr. T said: “I feel lucky to have quit football betting. Betting turned my life and my family's life upside down. I suffered from insomnia and headaches, and lost a lot of money before realizing: 'Only the bookmaker wins, the player never wins,' and that no one gets rich from gambling; getting involved only leads to ruin. Nowadays, depositing money to participate in betting is very simple; just transfer money to a specific individual, and the money will be in your betting account on the website immediately. The entire betting process only takes 1-2 minutes.”
The Euro 2024 season has only been underway for a little over a week, but local police forces have already dismantled numerous large-scale football betting rings and networks. Furthermore, advancements in online betting technology and marketing by related parties have attracted many players. Most recently, on June 22nd, the Hai Chau District Police ( Da Nang City) announced the arrest of 14 suspects in an online football betting ring worth over 1 trillion VND.
The investigation revealed that from August 2023 to the present, this group was provided with a master account with a limit of 3 million USD/month by the bookmaker to bet on football matches both domestically and internationally, including the Euro 2024 tournament. Subsequently, the suspects allocated and divided the account into smaller amounts for lower-level agents to continue organizing football betting for many people. Also on June 22nd, the Criminal Police Department of Quang Binh Provincial Police, in coordination with Bo Trach District Police, successfully dismantled a group of individuals involved in online football betting with transactions exceeding 10 billion VND...
In an interview with us, Lieutenant Colonel Do Thi Phuong Thanh, from the Criminal Investigation Department of the People's Police Academy, stated: "Currently, gambling has become a very dangerous problem in many countries, including Vietnam. Meanwhile, those who are addicted to gambling may not necessarily have a genuine love for sports."
Football betting shares the general characteristics of gambling: "Winning makes you crave more, losing makes you want to recoup your losses," so very few players know when to stop. When they lose, especially under pressure from debt, players only think about how to get their money back, sinking deeper into the trap of trying to recoup their losses. It's very difficult for bettors to win because the "bookmakers" have a team of experts who understand football very well and create odds that closely match the match situation, maximizing their advantage. Therefore, people should absolutely say no to football betting. This is an act that can lead to criminal prosecution.
Simply typing the phrase "football betting website" into Google yields over 23 million results in just 0.19 seconds. The popularity of football betting websites, along with attractive betting offers, diverse odds, high security, anonymity, and convenient payment methods, are major factors that entice players to participate in online football betting, leading to violations of the law.
Speaking with us, Colonel Doan The Vinh, Head of the Department for Prevention and Combating Social Evils, Criminal Police Department, Ministry of Public Security, said: “The perpetrators think that law enforcement agencies have difficulty controlling the online space; however, we always have appropriate professional measures, anticipating, identifying, and proactively handling groups and networks involved in football betting. All betting activities are traced in the online space, and many networks with very sophisticated methods of operation have still been successfully dismantled by us.”
People's participation in football betting also carries the risk of many negative consequences, such as being held captive or extorted by criminals who hire thugs to collect debts if they lose money. Some people may even resort to robbery, theft, or going into hiding to avoid paying their debts.
To proactively prevent and combat online football betting, the Ministry of Public Security advises citizens to fully understand the positive entertainment values of this sport and to watch football with a healthy mindset. If you detect individuals exhibiting suspicious behavior related to football betting, please promptly report it to the nearest police station for investigation and resolution.
According to the People's Army Newspaper
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