Ascot Sports, a company linked to Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan, has received a license to run betting on sports such as soccer, basketball, motor racing, tennis and golf, according to Tan's conglomerate Berjaya Corp., which is buying 70 percent of Ascot for 525 million ringgit ($163 million).

Gambling is a sensitive political issue in Malaysia, where ethnic Malay Muslims comprise nearly two-thirds of the country's 28 million people. Non-Muslim minorities, mainly ethnic Chinese and Indians, are allowed to purchase lotteries and bet on horse races, but betting on other sports has been illegal.

Indstry officials estimate illegal sports betting in Malaysia could total 20 billion ringgit ($6.2 billion) every year, with soccer betting accounting for about 90 percent.

Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung said Thursday the government gave the approval to Ascot in order to curb illegal betting and avoi losing tax revenue estimated to be up to 4 billion ringgit ($1.2 billion) a year.

"The government all along has been hesitant to allow such activities, but then again if the government doesn't control it with a set of rules, the underground market for sports betting shall continue to thrive, like it or nt," Chor told The Associated Press.

All company employees and clients involved in the betting operations must be non-Muslim, Chor said.

Ascot is likely to launch the betting services by August, not in time for next month's start of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, a Berjaya official said on conditon of anonymity because she was not authorized to make public statements.

The service will be offered through selected outlets and by telephone for non-Muslims aged above 21, according to the Berjaya statement. The official said Ascot might seek approval to eventually offer online betting.

The Federaton of Malaysian Consumers Associations has slammed the move, saying it was the government's responsibility to stop gambling rather than benefit from it.

"It will encourage people to gamble, and this will cause other problems," such as illegal money lending to pay off debts, more crime and possibly suicids, spokesman Mohamad Yusof Abdul Rahman said.

Kamarulzaman Mohamed, an official with the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said party members were planning at least two protests outside mosques following Friday afternoon prayers to urge the government to reverse its decision.


Date Posted: 13-May-2010