According to Colonel Bui Tuan Anh of the Ministry of Public Security, the World Cup period has seen a surge in football betting and gambling offences in Vietnam, particularly through online platforms, with such activities also contributing to an increase in other types of crime.
Colonel Bui Tuan Anh, deputy director of the Department of Criminal Police for Social Order Crimes Investigation under the Ministry of Public Security speaks at a meeting on July 3 (Photo: Nam Trung).
In response, the ministry instructed police forces nationwide to launch a special crackdown on organised gambling and illegal football betting before and during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As of July 1, police across the country had uncovered and dismantled 73 gambling operations, arresting 346 suspects involved in illegal gambling and football betting while seizing assets and equipment linked to the offences.
Separately, Lam Dong Province Police announced on July 3 that officers had dismantled a large scale football betting and gambling ring and arrested five suspects.
During questioning, the suspects admitted purchasing accounts from an unidentified source through the Telegram messaging application. They then divided the accounts into multiple sub accounts and sold them to gamblers, who used them to place football bets.
Preliminary investigations found that transactions handled by the betting network totalled approximately VND 5 billion (approximately USD 191,000).