Like an old record stuck in its groove, the government has put out the same old tired argument for not allowing fans to bet on last week's Barclays Asia Trophy final between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Hong Kong Stadium. The decision stemmed from the fact the all-English Premier League clash was part of a tournament in which a Hong Kong team was participating.
League champions Kitchee, pretty in pink, were playing another Premier League team, Blackburn Rovers. Because of this, the existing licence for football betting issued by the government to the Hong Kong Jockey Club prevented them, the licensee, from accepting bets.
Amy Tam, a senior information officer with the Home Affairs Bureau, said whether or not to allow gambling on matches involving local teams required a thorough discussion in the community. 'Whilst legalising it might help combat illegal gambling activities, many people in our community would be concerned about the influence this might have on our youth, the new gambling opportunities that would be made available to the public, and its effect on the integrity of the local football scene,' Tam said.
This misguided stance has resulted in millions of dollars being lost in revenue. Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges estimated that more than 130 overseas bookies, including most major offshore and online bookmakers in the region, had opened betting pools to cash in on Hong Kong's inertia.
Engelbrecht-Bresges nailed it in his blog when he referred to 'a top match the whole world can bet on - except in Hong Kong'. He also said neither of the two reasons why the government banned the Jockey Club from accepting bets on matches involving Hong Kong teams - integrity concerns and insufficient public interest - were applicable. This was an international event held under the umbrella of the English Premier League and as far as public interest was concerned, the fact that tickets went like hotcakes long before the event should have been enough proof.
By and large, betting is in the life blood of Hong Kong. I have seen punters at race meetings gambling on cards in-between races. Every day crowds flock outside shop windows to see which way their stocks and shares are moving.
In this light, it is crazy that a responsible body like the Jockey Club isn't given the licence to take bets while every cheap bookie rubs his hands in glee. It was after years of persuasion that the government finally allowed the Jockey Club to take bets on football. Before the 2006 World Cup, it was estimated illegal soccer gambling turnover was HK$60 billion.