Soccer fans injured by football hooligans are on their own after Chinese regulators ordered Chinese insurance firms to stop selling novelty policies for the World Cup.
China’s insurance industry regulator has halted the selling of ‘World Cup regret’ policies, saying they are too closely linked to gambling. Companies that continue to offer the policies face sanctions including the temporary suspension of signing new clients.
Chinese insurance companies have been offering the novelty policies since before the international soccer tournament began.
Shanghai’s Zhong An firm, for example, offered “night owl insurance,” which covered medical expenses from accidents caused by soccer fans getting too little sleep while watching the telecasts of the World Cup. “Football hooligan insurance” covered claims of injury inflicted by rowdy rival fans.
Ancheng Property & Casualty Insurance also offered “World Cup pity insurance,” which compensated fans if their favorite team was eliminated from the early rounds of the World Cup.
And that’s just a few examples of policies.
Most of the policies cost less than $2 and paid out about $8. Despite those small numbers, some policies also covered betting on losing teams, which caught regulator’s eyes. Some firms also made the payments as online credits, which could then be used for betting.
The ban also comes as international authorities continue to clamp down on more traditional, yet illegal, World Cup Betting.
Authorities in Malaysia and also Thailand have announced a large amount of arrests for illegal wagering on the tournament. Both countries say they have broken up illegal bookmaker operations. More than 1,000 arrests were made in Thailand.
