Officials have denied giving the green light to legalising more gambling activities.
Despite plans to launch a review of football gambling, the Home Affairs Bureau stressed gambling would not be encouraged.
'Our policy is not to encourage gambling activities, except the Mark Six lottery and horse racing,' said Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs David Tsui Kwan-ping.
He said offshore gambling on football matches would also be outlawed under proposed amendments to plug loopholes that allow the practice.
The Legislative Council will tomorrow debate whether football gambling should be legalised.
Mr Tsui said a review of such gambling would be launched later, but denied it had signalled the green light to legalise it.
The bureau decided to conduct a review because it wanted to probe public sentiment on the issue, a spokesman for the bureau added.