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(Gulf News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dubai: Gambling has reached new heights during the football World Cup.
Fans have taken their passion to the internet or office sweepstakes. While some have resorted to complex spreadsheets circulated among friends that reward the most accurate goal predictions, others have taken it a step further by going through sophisticated bookmakers overseas.
The UAE bans gambling. Lawyers in Dubai have warned people against taking part in online betting.
A cruder version that involves printing the names of World Cup teams on a piece of paper and rolling them before farming them out to friends at a pre-agreed amount still persists. Danny, a European, said he and his pals placed bets of Dh50 each in a pot for a winner-takes-all sweepstakes.
"It's no different from putting money together to join any of the raffles as a group," rationalised Danny. "It [betting] is part of our [European] tradition."
A graphics artist, who requested anonymity, said he has thrown in Dh100 for a match-prediction game among friends.
"I used to chip in Dh100 with buddies so we can buy raffle tickets. It's the same risk we're taking with the football World Cup. This time it involves informed guessing, instead of sheer chance. And it's not really a lot of money. I'm in it for the fun."
David S., a Dubai-based diplomat, said: "Many friends I know join betting games ? it's part of the fun. Even if you bet Dh100 over the month-long period, it's not going to impoverish you."
Ksaunish [not his real name], an Indian, takes World Cup betting seriously, though. He has set aside a betting budget of Dh3,000 this World Cup.
While gambling is illegal in the UAE, the biggest known online World Cup bet so far was done by a UAE national businessman who supports the English team, according to British bookmaker William Hill.
The UAE trader was reported to have wagered Dh340,000 (GBP50,000) for David Beckham's squad when they played Paraguay on the second day of the month-long World Cup.
People in Dubai are also known to bet online on horse racing in the UK using credit cards.
Could banks offer that as evidence in a similar case this time against the bettor?
Legal minds offer different answers.
Salah Mohammad Kamal Al Bakri of Advocates Without Frontiers Advocacy and Legal Consultancy said: "The bank cannot prosecute for receiving money on the credit card of a customer. Since the funds have been generated due to a legal transaction made according to the laws [say of the UK], banks in the UAE cannot take any legal action against this kind of transaction."
Graham Lovett, a litigation partner of Clifford Chance international law firm in Dubai, disagrees.
"When someone from the UAE calls up bookmakers in another country to book a World Cup bet, the courts here could still frown upon that," said Lovett.
One problem with online gambling, he cited, is the so-called "conflict of laws" between countries.
"It's a murky territory right now," said Lovett. "Even so, it's safe to predict that UAE courts will undoubtedly assume jurisdiction over a case brought before them against someone accessing an online gambling site from the UAE soil ? even if a betting contract is done overseas."
Billion dollar industry
Internet wagering is now a $12 billion industry.
Hashik T.K., legal consultant with Al Gareeb and Asssociates, also cautioned against bets involving money.
Hashik said: "If friends bet among themselves and there's money involved, it's illegal under Sharia law. As for online gambling, the new Cyber Crimes Law states that if something illegal is being carried out within the territorial jurisdiction of the UAE, and someone lodges a case against this practice before a local court, the territorial jurisdiction is followed. That means, the local laws will apply to the person placing his online bets from the UAE soil."
Websites offer an array of options
There are at least 10 online gambling sites capitalising on the popularity of the World Cup.
The range of bets available for online punters are wide: from the traditional pre-match football betting and match odds (home-away-draw) to correct score, first goal scorer and the half-time/full-time double result.
According to a website, some of these football betting games are turned 'in-play' when a match is televised live, which means bettors can still bet right through the 90 minutes of the encounter.
For example, if a team is leading 2-0 at half-time and you fancy them to sit on their lead you may be offered generous odds for there to be under 2.5 goals.
Moreover, bettors can pit their wits against fellow punters on total goals, under/over 2.5 goals, total corners, Asian handicaps, next team to score and several more permutations.
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