3 football betting rings busted in southern Vietnamese province

The Vietnamese province of Dong Thap has detected three football betting rings during the UEFA Euro 2016, the provincial police said Sunday.

In the three separate cases, the police have detained six local youths from Hong Ngu town, seven bettors and bookmakers from Sa Dec city, and 17 others from Hong Ngu town.

All the three football betting rings are small with total bets worth dozens of millions of Vietnamese dong (thousands of U.S. dollars).

According to local media, during the UEFA European Football Championship 2016 in France, Vietnamese police have detected many football betting rings, mainly online ones, worth millions of U.S. dollars each in several cities and provinces.

Gambling of all kinds, including betting, except in government licensed casinos, is illegal in Vietnam. Violators are subject to heavy fines and/or severe prison sentences.