'The agressive and well funded attacks on the Hong Kong betting revenues waged by William Hill, Easinumbers.com and other unauthorised offshore or illegal bookmakers paint a clear picture as to why Hong Kong must move quickly to amend the existing gambling ordinance,' argued the racing authorities.

The proposed amendment which the Jockey Club are hoping that the government will pass soon calls for the criminalisation of offshore betting if the customer is based in Hong Kong, with fines of up to $640,000 and seven years in prison as the penalties for infringement.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club pointed to loss of tax revenue and the crime and social problems associated with illegal gambling as reasons to clamp down on unregulated providers, and revealed that over the last year they had contributed some 10% of all Hong Kong tax revenues, whereas bookmakers such as William Hill, Darwin All Sports, and Antigua-based Easybets had contributed nothing. 'During a time of economic downturn, Hong Kong must do whatever is required to protect its community assets,' the HKJC concluded.

However, the offshore providers have hit back at the Jockey Club accusations, arguing that the legal and compliance onus should be on the customer, as opposed to the provider: 'The Hong Kong Jockey Club is living in the dark ages,' Terry Lillis, the chief of CentreRacing told the Thoroughbred Times on Thursday. 'They should realise that this is the 21st century and wagering is now an international business.'