The long-speculated legalisation of sports betting could be a reality before the 2010 FIFA World Cup begins on June 11 2010.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein said the government was studying the possibility of issuing sports betting licences to prevent illegal betting and gaming activities from becoming rampant in the country. He said if the licences were not issued to the applicants, such illegal activities would persist and grow out of control.

?There is some interest for us to examine (giving out licences), otherwise there will be lots of bookies betting on the World Cup. So, whether this is necessarily a good thing for the government or whether we should try to regulate it so that we know how much is received from illegal betting, the government is looking into that. He said if licences were issued, the government could regulate the betting, while the returns could be used for sports development purposes?.

While admitting that there were several quarters who had applied for the licence, Awang Adek, however, refused to divulge details until the government made its decision.

If sports betting is legalised, the frontrunner would be Tan Sri Vincent Tan?s privately owned company Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd. In June 2003, during the administration of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Ascot was issued a 20-year concession to operate a chain of sports betting outlets. But when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became prime minister later that year, he reportedly scrapped the proposal, saying that the government would not legalise football betting in the country.

However, it is learnt that should the government decide to legalise sports betting, Ascot has the first right of refusal.

Since April 2010, speculation has been rife that the government was considering legalising sports betting. Berjaya Corporation Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) are the prime beneficiaries should the government legalise sports betting.

If the government granted the individual licence to Tan, as it did in 2003, he could inject it into BToto, thereby leveraging on the brand name and reach of its 680 outlets.

Moreover, BToto already has the existing terminals in place in its outlets, so infrastructure would not be the main concern. However, this is on the assumption that the government would allow sports betting to be conducted through NFO (numbers forecast operator) outlets, which remains uncertain at this juncture.

However, if Tan chooses to form a partnership with BToto, the prospects from the deal would be a lot less exciting. BToto would only get royalty payments, in exchange for letting Tan use its network and terminals.