A campaigner against soccer gambling is calling for harsher penalties and more initiatives from the government to keep a lid on the growing illegal industry.

Known in the media as China's number one grassroots anti-gambling campaigner, Ren Jie, 39, told METRO on Wednesday that more than 100 football gamblers and their worried relatives had contacted him from all over the country since the World Cup started to share their heart-wrenching stories about how soccer gambling ruined their lives.

Models show sportswear made of pure cotton at a fashion show. [Yan Tong / For China Daily]

One woman from Tianjin told him that her husband, who was addicted to soccer gambling, had lost more than 100,000 yuan before the World Cup even began.

And once the competition got started, her husband suddenly left home after borrowing more money for illicit gambling. She said she is so desperate that she wants to divorce him and end the nightmare.

And another netizen, from Xiamen, Fujian province, told him he had lost 200,000 yuan on the World Cup, said Ren.

The campaigner said there are all too many similar stories of savings being wiped out and families being torn apart.

And Ren knows what he is talking about. Back in the early 2000s, he owned an exhibition company, two apartments, a car and had nearly two million yuan in his bank account.

Gambling changed all that and he lost more than a million yuan during the 2002 World Cup.

What started out as a bit of fun among colleagues at work ended in heavy debts two years later.

During his darkest days, he says he was on the brink of suicide.

He says it was only the unwavering love of his wife and two children that finally saved him and encouraged him to start again.

Now, Ren leads a civil association that helps gamblers and has also opened a small eatery in north Beijing's Huilongguan community. In addition to decorating it with a soccer-theme, he has placed a board on the wall carrying a poem he wrote that reminds customers of the dangers of soccer gambling.

He says that when he watches games each night now, the feeling is no longer the same as it was when he saw matches in 2002.

"I am happy for the victory achieved by either team and do not feel as if I am being 'driven by money' any more," he said.

Police in China have pledged to crack down on illegal gambling groups and online betting nationwide during the World Cup and Beijing police strengthened monitoring on the Internet before the game.

So far, police have arrested 189 suspects and seized gambling funds amounting to 960,000 yuan since they launched the campaign in the capital on April 11, according to Xinhua.net.

Online betting has become an "open secret" in China, according to Ren. More than 500 billion yuan was spent on online gambling in 2006 nationwide, Titan Sports Daily reported earlier this year.

Ren said some Netizens had sent him clues or evidence of online gambling organizers and he said he was considering collecting the information together and sending it to the public security department.

"The World Cup should be something that people watch for fun. Once money is involved, it will make our passion no longer pure. We should not let it happen," he said.