Asian cup underground gambling

Betting on major sporting events is illegal in much of Asia but it remains rampant, and police across the region are on full alert ahead of the Asian Cup finals. Asians like a flutter with money changing hands at market stalls or in underground gambling dens, often run by organised crime syndicates. More still is waged on burgeoning online gambling websites. Some of Asias biggest betters are in China where underground rings are rife. In 2005, a man was jailed for 30 months in a football gambling case involving more than $75 million. Police said heavy betting was expected on the July 7-29 Asian Cup, much of it via the Internet, but refused to disclose details of their anti-gambling plans. Chinese police set up a special squad last year to combat illegal gambling on football with the national Super League unable to shake allegations of corruption in the shape of black whistles, or bribed referees. Like China, football-mad Thailand is a nation of keen gamblers, even though betting is illegal. So much money changes hands that one economic research centre estimated that Thais bet nearly $1 billion on the 2006 World Cup. Police take it seriously, arresting more than 750 people for illegal gambling during the four-week tournament last year. The Asian Cup, co-hosted by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, is expected to attract such business but nowhere near the scale of the World Cup, said Thai police chiefs. We dont think there will be any big illegal betting on the Asian Cup - said Lieutenant General Phanu Kerdlarpbhol, deputy head of Bangkoks metropolitan police. Thais are fond of the English Premier League, Italys Serie A or even the Spanish La Liga rather than Asian football. They know players and figures of those teams, rather than teams of this tournament. Betting, in whatever form, including on football, is also outlawed in Indonesia, although betting is common. National police spokesman Bambang Kuncoko said there had been no specific moves to prevent bets placed on the Asian Cup. We are cracking down on gambling on a regular basis, by conducting raids on suspected gambling dens and operations, but there is nothing specific related to the Asian Cup matches, he said. Even though communist Vietnam outlaws gambling, which is considered a *social evil* betting on football remains popular and widespread. In April the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Court jailed 12 members of an illegal online football betting ring and handed suspended terms to 10 more defendants. The network had taken online bets worth up to $50,000 per day on matches in the Vietnamese domestic league and on games played in Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain and in the European Championships. Illegal bets are expected to be placed on the Asian Cup. It is a similar story in Malaysia, where Football Association of Malaysia secretary-general Ibrahim Saad said they were being vigilant. We do not know (how much will be bet) but we need to be vigilant. We cannot take any chances, Ibrahim said. But unlike the World Cup when police forces around the region liaised, each country appears to be taking its own initiatives for the Asian Cup. We take care of our own turf, said Ibrahim. Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam has called for betting to be made legal so it can be managed, and countries that have followed this path claim success. South Korea has also managed to control illicit sports betting by legalising it, as has Australia, where Centrebets Neil Evans said interest in the Asian Cup was building. They are not really backing anyone but Australia, he added.