By TV Channel 7 and AP – published by Yahoo!News
CYBER CRIME police have been busy tackling widespread online betting on UEFA Euro 2024 football matches with the tournament kicking off in Munich, Germany, today (June 14) and have shut as many as 8,000 gambling websites this month alone, TV Channel 7 said late afternoon.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Worawat Watnakornbancha, head Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), said a special centre has been set up to crackdown on various types of gambling websites nationwide in coordination with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
This includes inspection of various assets linked to money laundering with all units of this bureau told to be more vigilant from today onwards to rein in Euro football gambling.
The stepped up crackdown follows Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin having on April 1 issued an order for CCIB to coordinate with this ministry in accelerating shutting down these gambling websites with their operation being viewed as an economic crime.
Since then 15,000 gambling websites have been blocked each month with 8,000 closed this month alone, he said, adding CCIB has got good cooperation from relevant units so was able to act quickly.
The Euros kick off today (9 p.m. CET, 2 a.m. in Thailand) when host Germany plays Scotland at the Munich Football Arena (better known as the Allianz Arena for Bayern Munich games) with the final taking place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, AP said.
England and France are widely considered to be the favourites to lift the trophy. England has not won a major international tournament since the World Cup in 1966 but was a beaten finalist at the last Euros. France was a beaten finalist at the 2016 World Cup and is led by Kylian Mbappe, who has just joined Real Madrid and is widely considered to be the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.
The tournament begins with six groups of four teams. The teams in each group play each other once, with three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The top two teams in each group, as well as the four best-performing third-place teams, will advance to the round of 16.
From the round of 16 the tournament becomes a straight knockout competition through the quarterfinals, semifinals and final to determine the champion.
Euro 2024 brackets
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
Group F: Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic
Host stadiums and capacity
Olympiastadion Berlin (71,000)
Cologne Stadium (43,000)
BVB Stadion Dortmund (62,000)
Duesseldorf Arena (47,000)
Frankfurt Arena (47,000)
Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen (50,000)
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (49,000)
Leipzig Stadium (40,000)
Munich Football Arena (66,000)
Stuttgart Arena (51,000)
Who is the defending champion?
Italy won the last Euros, which were staged in 2021 because the original tournament was postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Italy beat England in the final at Wembley Stadium in a penalty shootout.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Italy’s coach Roberto Mancini, front second left, celebrates with players in Rome, Monday, July 12, 2021, their victory at the Euro 2020 soccer championships in a final played at Wembley stadium in London. File photo: Roberto Monaldo/ Lapresse via AP and published by Yahoo!News
Insert: Tournament mascot ‘Albaert’ poses for the media during the presentation of the European soccer championship ‘EURO 2024’ trophy at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. File photo: AP /Markus Schreiber and published by Yahoo!News
Front Page: Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo kisses the trophy at the end of the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris on Sunday, July 10, 2016. File photo: AP/Frank Augstein and published by Yahoo! News
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