• Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has drafted a new decree to overhaul the country’s laws on horse racing, greyhound racing, and international football betting.
• The proposal would significantly increase the daily betting limit for football betting from VND1 million to VND10 million (approx. $380).
• The new Vietnam gambling regulation will be launched via a five-year pilot scheme, with just a single operator to be licensed initially.
• Despite the increase, industry experts have warned that the new betting limits may still be too low to effectively compete with the massive illegal betting market.
• The move is a long-awaited attempt to activate a legal framework first established in 2017 and to capture a portion of the billions of dollars currently lost to the black market.

A New Push to Regulate the Vietnam Gambling Market

London, UK - 29th September 2025 - The government of Vietnam is making a renewed and significant attempt to establish a viable, regulated market for international football betting. A new draft decree from the Ministry of Finance proposes a major overhaul of the existing rules, most notably by increasing the maximum daily betting limit tenfold.

The proposal is designed to replace the country’s largely dormant Decree 06, a 2017 law whose highly restrictive provisions meant a legal football betting market was never fully implemented. This new draft is a clear signal that the government is serious about finally creating a workable system to bring the country’s massive and uncontrolled betting activity into a regulated environment.

The New Proposed Framework for Football Betting

The draft decree introduces a series of key changes to the Vietnam gambling regulation. The headline reform is the increase in the daily betting limit from its previous, unworkably low level of VND1 million to a new cap of VND10 million (approx. $380) per player. Other key provisions include:

• A minimum stake of VND10,000 (approx. $0.38).
• A strict minimum age for participation of 21 years.
• A five-year pilot scheme with a single licensed operator to launch the market.

The list of eligible events will be limited to tournaments organised by FIFA and its member confederations, meaning popular competitions like the Premier League and Champions League would be included, but domestic Vietnamese football would not.

Industry Raises Concerns Over Competitiveness

While the move to increase the betting limits has been welcomed as a positive step, industry experts have already raised concerns that the new cap may still be too low to effectively combat the vast illegal betting market. Observers have argued that a daily limit of $380 may still be insufficient to attract serious players away from the unregulated offshore operators, who impose no such restrictions.

The massive scale of this black market is the central challenge for the government. Previous studies have estimated that the illegal betting market in Vietnam could be worth as much as $12 billion annually, with billions of dollars in revenue flowing out of the country to offshore operators.

The Path to a Regulated Market

The new draft decree is a clear and pragmatic admission that the previous attempt at Vietnam gambling regulation was a failure. By raising the betting limits and outlining a path for a licensed operator to enter the market, the government is taking a much more realistic approach.

However, the industry’s early feedback suggests that the success of this new framework will hinge on whether the final rules are competitive enough to provide a genuine alternative to the deeply entrenched black market. The government must now balance its desire for control and consumer protection with the commercial realities of a highly competitive international online betting landscape.