Is gambling on football (soccer) subject to criminal prosecution?
Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh from Con Cuong district asks: I've noticed that some people, when watching major football tournaments like the EURO, often bet on the match results. Is participating in football betting subject to criminal prosecution?
Reply:
Football betting is the act of using money or other assets to wager on predicting the outcome of a football match that is about to end or is currently underway but has not yet concluded or has not yet had a final result.
Football betting can be done in many different forms, such as:
- Betting directly at casinos and bookmakers.
- Online gambling.
- Betting via phone…
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Based on Article 321 of the 2015 Penal Code, as amended by Clause 120, Article 1 of the 2017 Law amending the Penal Code, the crime of gambling is defined as follows:
1. Any person who engages in illegal gambling in any form where the stakes involve money or objects worth from VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000, or less than VND 5,000,000 but has already been administratively penalized for this act or the act stipulated in Article 322 of this Code, or has been convicted of this crime or the crime stipulated in Article 322 of this Code and has not had their criminal record expunged and commits the offense again, shall be fined from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, sentenced to non-custodial correctional labor for up to 3 years, or imprisoned from 6 months to 3 years.
2. Committing an offense falling under one of the following circumstances shall be punishable by imprisonment from 3 to 7 years:
a) It has a professional nature;
b) Money or objects used for gambling worth 50,000,000 VND or more;
c) Using the internet, computer networks, telecommunication networks, or electronic means to commit crimes;
d) Dangerous recidivism.
3. The offender may also be fined from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.
Accordingly, those who participate in illegal football betting may be prosecuted if they bet with money or goods worth 5 million VND or more, or less than 5 million VND in the following cases.tGambling gang:
- Has been previously penalized for administrative violations related to gambling or organizing gambling.
- Convicted of gambling offensesor the crime of organizing gambling or facilitating gambling, but the conviction has not been expunged and the offender commits the offense again.
Individuals prosecuted for gambling offenses may be sentenced to non-custodial correctional measures for up to 3 years or imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years.
In addition, offenders may also be fined from 10,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND.
