KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — The government confirmed today that it was considering awarding a licence for sports betting ahead of the football World Cup in June in what is seen as a move to boost flagging revenues.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin told reporters in Parliament today that legal football betting was being considered to contain the expected spread of illegal betting activities during the World Cup.
If it goes ahead with the plans, the Najib administration could expose itself to political risk if it allows a sports betting concession to be revived because of potential objections from conservative Muslims.
It has been reported that gaming tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan is in the fray to be granted permission to revive his online sports betting concession.
“The government is studying this matter and will make a decision on whether to allow betting considering the World Cup is happening soon,” he said.
He said that if a licence is issued, the government would be able to control gambling activities.
The deputy minister also argued that revenues from sports betting during the World Cup could also be used for sports development.
However, he declined to reveal which company had applied for a licence to offer bets during the World Cup.
But it is understood that Tan’s Berjaya Group has applied for the licence.
Singapore’s The Straits Times reported on April 2 that the Najib administration had agreed in principle to allow Tan, who controls the Berjaya Sports Toto gaming franchise, to revive his sports betting concession.
The Straits Times reported that bankers close to the businessman say that Tan had been actively lobbying the Malaysian government for the past six months and telling them that the government was losing hundreds of millions of ringgit in tax revenue to illegal betting syndicates.
Tan owned Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd that held a 25-year online sports betting concession that was awarded in June 2003, for which it paid RM25 million, but the government opted not to renew the licence in 2004.
Tan then decided to take Ascot Sports online and launched the online service in 2006 before calling it quits two years later.
Najib has been tapping gaming companies to boost revenue for the government since before he became prime minister in April last year.
A month after Najib assumed the Finance Ministry portfolio in September 2008, the government quietly awarded three gaming companies 10 more special draws a year in a move to boost flagging government revenues ahead of the economic slowdown.
The number forecast operators involved were Magnum, Tanjong and Tan’s Berjaya Sports Toto.
By allowing Tan’s Berjaya to start football betting, Najib is risking political fallout as it gives conservative elements in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) an excuse to attack his government.
But Najib will be betting that a rosier economic outlook boosted by more gaming revenues will help him ride out any potential political storm.
