Recently, sports events have become the focus of the city. Currently, various Olympic events are in full swing. Last month's European Cup of Nations also attracted many local fans to join the night. In addition to the excitement of the game itself, the legalization of football gambling has also attracted more people to pay attention to football matches to a certain extent. In the third year, the government officially legalized soccer betting. Eighteen years have passed since the betting on football betting has exceeded one hundred billion Hong Kong dollars a year. Given that gambling on football matches has become very popular, and this trend will have a negative impact on young people, the DAB conducted a survey earlier by random sampling by telephone to understand the harm caused by gambling on football matches to young people. It turned out that four adults had participated in football betting for the first time before they were 21 years old. The situation should not be ignored.
As for the interviewees with experience in soccer betting, more than six adults bet on the jockey club, but there are still two adults betting on the outer matches. What is worrying is that two adults bet on football matches for the first time under the age of 18. Starting to gamble at such a young age, it is easy to indulge in debts, which will have a bad impact on individuals, families and society. For example, in 2017, there was a news report that a 22-year-old young man was suspected of indulging in gambling on football and owing debts and eventually fell to his death. At that time, the father, who had suffered the loss of his son, publicly told young people not to gamble. Indulging in gambling can range from huge debts to the loss of family and death, and the disasters are so great that we have to be cautious.
Many years ago, when society was still discussing whether football gambling should be legalized, the then DAB chairman Jasper Tsang pointed out that the tax revenue from football gambling was not enough to make up for the harm to society caused by the promotion of gambling and the poisoning of young people. However, in view of the rampant illegal peripheral gambling on football matches, we support standardized gambling on football matches. However, the results of this survey show that outside betting is still rampant, and the legal football gambling of the Jockey Club has attracted new gambling players. The overall gambling trend has not eased. After years of experience, it seems that the original hope of regulating football gambling to curb peripheral gambling has not been achieved.
The author is most concerned about the issue of young people participating in gambling. At present, the Jockey Club has not taken effective measures to prevent young people from participating in gambling. With the growing popularity of betting through mobile apps and more and more gambling on football matches, football betting is more attractive than ever, and it is more difficult to prevent young people from gambling. The easiest way is to refer to the practice of adding warning words to cigarettes in the packaging, and writing slogans to prevent gambling in the Jockey Club betting shops and webpages.
Another feasible approach is to refer to the practices of other countries and regions to raise the legal gambling age to 21 years old. It is hoped that when young people are more mature, they can judge the pros and cons of participating in gambling activities. Another approach is to increase gambling counseling and hotlines. The Jockey Club and gambling cessation services will cooperate more closely to strengthen publicity for gambling cessation so that those who need services can get timely assistance. Finally, the Jockey Club should consider not to increase the types of betting on football matches. There is no need to continue to increase the attractiveness of football betting, and there is no need to compete with the outside world. All sectors of society should work together to curb the rejuvenation of gambling and reduce the harm of gambling activities to society.
[TW]
遏止賭博年輕化
近期體育賽事成為城中焦點，目前奧運各項賽事進行得如火如荼，上月的歐洲國家盃也吸引很多本地球迷「捱夜」捧場。除了比賽本身精采刺激外，賭波合法化某程度上也吸引了更多人去留意足球比賽。〇三年政府正式將賭波合法化，至今已十八年，足球博彩的投注額一年超過一千億港元。鑑於賭波活動已相當普及，而這股風氣會對年輕人構成不良影響，民建聯較早前以電話隨機抽樣的方式進行調查，以了解賭波對青少年帶來的禍害。結果發現有四成人未滿二十一歲就已經首次參與賭波，情況不容忽視。
至於有賭波經驗的受訪者中，超過六成人是經馬會下注，但仍有兩成人賭外圍波。令人擔心的是當中有兩成人未滿十八歲就第一次賭波。如此年輕的時候就開始賭博，容易沉迷欠債，對個人、家庭和社會帶來壞影響。例如：一七年有一則新聞報道，一名二十二歲的青年疑沉迷賭波欠債，最終墮樓身亡。當時該名承受喪子之痛的父親便公開叮囑年輕人不要賭錢。沉迷賭博輕則欠下巨債，重則家破人亡，禍害之大不得不慎重。
多年前，當社會還在討論應否賭波合法化時，當時的民建聯主席曾鈺成就指出賭波帶來的稅收並不足以彌補由於助長賭風、毒害青少年而對社會造成的禍害。但鑑於非法外圍賭波情況猖獗而支持規範賭波。可是今次的調查結果顯示外圍投注仍然猖獗，而馬會的合法賭波又吸引了新參與賭博人士，整體賭風沒有減輕的趨勢。經過多年的經驗，似乎仍沒有達到當初希望通過規範賭波活動來遏止外圍賭博的目的。
筆者最關心的是年輕人參與賭博的問題。現時，馬會對於避免年輕人參與賭博未有採取有效的辦法。隨着通過手機應用程式下注的做法日益普及，以及賭波的花樣愈來愈多，賭波比以往更有吸引力，而要防止年輕人賭博比以往更困難。最簡單的做法是參考香煙在包裝袋加上警告字句的做法，在馬會投注站及網頁當眼處寫有防止賭博的標語。
另一個可行的做法是參考其他國家及地區的做法，提高合法賭博年齡至二十一歲，希望待年輕人心智更成熟才自行判斷參與賭博活動的利弊。另一個做法是增加戒賭輔導及熱線，馬會和戒賭務服更緊密地合作，加強宣傳戒賭的力度，令有需要尋求服務的人士可以得到及時協助。最後，馬會應考慮不要再增加賭波的投注種類，沒有必要繼續提高賭波的吸引力，更沒有必要同外圍競爭。社會各界都應該齊心合力，遏止賭博年輕化，把賭博活動對社會的危害減低。
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