The global sports betting industry stands to get a tremendous promotion if Vietnam makes good on their word to legalize sports bets on international football (soccer) games. Although nothing is official as of yet, it appears very likely that the Vietnam government will honor a request by the Sports Minister and National Sports Committee to legalize sports betting and permit an unnamed foreign sportsbook to provide betting services for international football games. The sportsbook candidate could very well be Ladbrokes, Betfair or any other top-tiered European based betting service - who will very likely offer online betting services as well.

Vietnam newspapers are quoting the Sports Minister and the Chairman of the Committee for Sports and Physical Training, Nguyen Danh Thai, that legislators purposefully left out original Article 10 football betting provisions in a current Sports Law proposal in order to wait for a decree by the Vietnam government to embrace the legalization of football betting.  According to these sources, it is only a matter of time before the said decree is made, at which time the Article 10 provisions will be added to the Sports Law.

The news of such a decision is great news to the international sports betting industry, not to mention Vietnam bettors who reportedly transmit $1 billion in illegal bets on international football matches. Although the Singapore government professes that Vietnamese bettors only spend $300 to $400 million each year in soccer matches abroad, either figure is enough to warrant regulation that would help to generate badly needed tax revenue. Communist Vietnam has been very adamant about prohibiting all forms of betting in times past; However, the overwhelming (and apparently unstoppable) demand of Vietnamese citizens to place bets on football matches in Spain, England and Italy has apparently influenced the government to reconsider its stance.