Hun Sen warns against football betting

(AFP) – PHNOM PENH – CAMBODIA’S premier warned football fans to resist illegal gambling on the upcoming World Cup, with police across the country ready to arrest anybody found having a flutter.

‘On Friday, the World Cup will start. I would like to appeal to (the people) not to bet on football,’ Prime Minister Hun Sen said during a student-graduation ceremony on Wednesday.

‘Both secret and open football betting must finish. Just watch it and clap your hands,’ he said.

Mr Hun Sen said he did not want to see ‘other countries win the football, but Cambodian people lose money’.

Cambodia’s sole football bookmaker was abruptly closed in early 2009 as Mr Hun Sen ordered a crackdown on betting, saying that gambling caused family disputes, domestic violence and robbery.