Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1839 Conflict of Interest
Football lottery is undoubtedly a key element, and its nature allows for almost universal participation.

Even if you're not interested in football, you're probably interested in making money, right?
How many people would be willing to let go of this opportunity to win big with a small bet, especially when many people around them have successfully made money by betting?

This led to the near-viral spread of football betting.

The economic benefits it brings have also begun to experience explosive growth.

If you want football lottery tickets to continue selling, then the matches have to continue.

Therefore, the ideal situation would be if there were matches every week during the league season.

Now Zhou Xu finally understood why they needed to have round-robin and point-based tournaments.

Of course, Zhou Xu didn't plan to start with a round-robin tournament.

There are too many newly established teams in the city, and their quality varies greatly. Although football betting is the core activity for most people, the experience of spectators who go to the stadium must also be taken into consideration.

What people want to see is a thrilling game with intense offense and defense, not a bunch of weaklings sparring.

Therefore, Zhou Xu planned to use a simple draw for the city league, with elimination rounds as the only option.

By the time the regional leagues start, most of the teams will be at a respectable level.

It's only interesting when strong teams keep clashing with each other.

Then, a round-robin tournament will be started, with points calculated simultaneously, increasing the number of matches and combining it with football betting to maximize profits.

During the city league, Blackmoon City was bustling with activity every day, just like during the Lunar New Year, regardless of the other cities.

Because there were too many teams registered in the city, for the first two weeks, there were games almost every day on Saturdays and Sundays, and sometimes even two games a day.

It wasn't until the semifinals that the frequency returned to one match per week.

After all, people need some time to recover. Even the most delicious food will make you feel unwell if you eat too much at once.

During this time, Zhou Xu's attention was completely off the football league.

From the perspective of boosting the economy, although the football league is important, he has already made the necessary arrangements. The rest will naturally be handled by the FIFA officials, and he does not need to pay close attention to it.

For a period of time afterward, Zhou Xu's life could only be described as busy but stable.

Apart from the football league being held in full swing, nothing major happened within the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The main reason is that this year's fiscal funds have already been allocated, and the new year's funds have not yet been collected. Without sufficient funding, there is really nothing else that can be done except to maintain the status quo and keep the country running normally.

To accelerate development, the key will be to see how much economic benefit this football league can generate after it concludes.

During this period, their city league within Blackmoon City also came to an end. In the end, the team that won the final and became the representative of Blackmoon City was the Blackmoon Veterans Football Club.

However, the team has also been the subject of numerous complaints.

This commotion caused quite a stir, prompting Zhou Xu to order the Inspection Department to investigate.

The football league itself involves a considerable amount of money, which is why the audit department has been paying close attention to it. No sooner had Zhou Xu asked than the audit department presented him with a report.

The owner of the Black Moon Veterans Football Club is Mr. Lu, the owner of the Veterans' Tavern in the city. Although it is named after veterans, not all of the team members are veterans.

Zhou Xu did have some impression of this Boss Lu, because the other party was one of the advertising sponsors of Black Moon Stadium.

After tasting success with sponsoring advertising spaces in the early military leagues, he went on to sponsor advertising spaces at every open stadium outside Blackmoon City, demonstrating his decisive nature. Later, the Veterans' Tavern's business flourished, and recently, it even opened a branch in the commercial area near Blackmoon Stadium.

After quickly reviewing the report submitted by the Inspection Department, Zhou Xu had a general understanding of the matter.

First of all, the other party did nothing that needed to be reported. The reason why so many people reported them can be summed up in four words: conflict of interest!

This league already involves a significant amount of money, so there is bound to be fierce competition within it.

This applies not only to interactions between teams, but also to ordinary fans.

If you're on their opposing team and you win, causing them to lose money, will they look down on you?

A large portion of the allegations have been confirmed as fabricated.

Some of the reports, while true, did not violate any regulations.

For example, someone reported that the veterans had directly booked the Black Moon Stadium, preventing other teams from getting enough training and making them more accustomed to the environment and grass of the Black Moon Stadium than other teams. This practice is despicable and unfair.

The problem is that Black Moon Golf Course is a course that anyone who pays can use.

The other party simply spent a large sum of money to book the Black Moon Stadium for their team to practice on, which is not illegal in itself.

As for fairness and such...

There is only relative fairness in this world, but absolute fairness is impossible.

The process of forming a team, from training to playing games, is all about individual ability. Having money is an advantage for veterans, so there's no reason for them not to use it.

Ultimately, playing with a sports team is an expensive endeavor.

If you have money, just buy the entire stadium, then have all the players quit their original jobs, support them, and make them train every day.

In this situation, how could a team that plays part-time and can only train on rest days or after get off work possibly beat them?
Zhou Xu didn't believe that these people who made the accusations were unaware of their own actions.

Knowing full well that the reason is far-fetched, yet still making numerous reports, this constitutes malicious reporting.

Zhou Xu has never liked to indulge in such things.

"Arrest all these people, detain them, fine them, and put them on criminal records."

People in every relevant department of their Great Zhou are basically working themselves to death. Even the newly established Football Federation is busy every day.

Such malicious reports are a complete waste of their time and energy.

It's the same as calling the police when you're perfectly fine; the severity of the situation is about the same, and it must be dealt with seriously!

A simple command, yet it stirred up a huge wave of controversy.

The city guards were quickly mobilized, and many people who had acted foolishly in a moment of madness, who might have been bragging and joking with friends at a dinner table just a second ago, were taken away on the spot by the guards who showed their identification.

Once you're arrested and taken to the police station, no matter how much you cry and sincerely repent, saying you acted impulsively or were blinded by greed, it won't make a difference.

Zhou Xu was determined to make an example of them this time, fining, detaining, and leaving criminal records—no one could escape.

The next morning, the storytellers also focused on this issue in the morning news, reminding the public to watch the game in a civilized manner, act within their limits, and not do anything foolish in the heat of the moment.

(End of this chapter)