Crackdown by authorities as China’s soccer boom sparks online gambling craze
Penalty miss by Portugal striker Ronaldo in Euro 2016 draw with Austria costs one mainlander thousands of yuan after he bet on a Portugal victory
A Chinese soccer fan could barely watch as Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo lined up his penalty kick in the finely balanced Euro 2016 group match against Austria.
The man identified by his surname Li, from the eastern city of Hangzhou, had every reason to be nervous: he had bet tens of thousands of yuan on Portugal to win.
There are so many gamblers, groups and platforms during the European Championships though, that I think it’s really hard to find all of them
With 10 minutes to go in the game in Paris, the Real Madrid star Ronaldo hit the post, the game ended in a draw, and Li lost the money he had bet using Tencent Holdings’ popular messaging app WeChat.
Amid a surge of Chinese interest in global soccer, one side-effect has been a record surge in illegal gambling online, prompting multimillion-dollar busts by police on betting rings, and tech giants such as Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding cracking down on gambling activity on their apps.
“There are so many gamblers, groups and platforms during the European Championships though, that I think it’s really hard to find all of them,” said Li, who asked only to use his surname as most gambling online in China is illegal.
Li said he used a private chat group on WeChat, where most of the people making bets were friends.
