The draft act governing the sale and management of sports lotteries drew wide criticism from lawmakers on the Education and Culture Committee yesterday, with some suggesting that the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) raise the percentage of revenue designated for prizes.
Sports lotteries are currently regulated by the Act Governing Public Welfare Lotteries (公益彩券發行條例), which stipulates that a majority of the earnings be reserved for public welfare programs. The SAC proposal calls for using 75 percent of the revenue as prize money and 90 percent of the profit for investment in sports.
Chinese Nationalist Party legislators Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) yesterday suggested that the council increase prizes as a way to encourage people to turn from illegal gambling networks to legitimate sports lotteries.
They said that with more than 90 percent of the revenue from underground gambling going to the bettors, the sports lotteries offer lower odds in comparison.
Liao added that the lotteries should not be sold by Taipei Fubon Bank, but by a state-run gambling company.
Revenues from the sports lotteries last year amounted to NT$5.2 billion, which was less than a half of the first year goal of NT$10.7 billion estimated by Taipei Fubon, Liao said.
As the bank has not actively marketed the sport lotteries, few people know how to place bets, he said.
“To win the prizes from betting on Chinese Professional Baseball League [CPBL] games, one has to bet on three games at a time, including two CPBL games and one other pro-baseball game from the US or Japan. This is too complicated,” he said.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) also voiced their opposition to having a bank handle the sports lotteries.
“Banks are not designed to sell sports lotteries, which is essentially a highly risky business,” Kuan said. “To avoid risks, banks can only choose the most conservative way to run sports lotteries.”
Hung also questioned what the council planned to do with the profit earned from sports lotteries.
“When you have money, everybody wants a share of it,” Hung said. “Some of the things you plan to fund [in the act] are too broad. I am concerned that they could end up in the pockets of a lot of people but not the athletes or any sports program or facility.”
DPP legislators Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) urged the council to actively oversee the operations of sports associations to see where the funding goes.
In response, SAC Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said the proposal to increase the prizes for the sports lotteries could be studied.
Tai said the council entrusted the bank to take charge of the sale of lotteries because Taiwan does not have an organization tasked with handling gambling. However, he agreed that it would be better to set up an organization to regulate sports lotteries.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS