Babar, Rizwan’s ‘No’ to betting companies

ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Rizwan, the wicketkeeper of Pakistan Cricket team, went through immense pressure and was asked to delete his tweet by the Pakistan Cricket Board in which he dedicated the team’s historic win against Siri Lanka to the Palestinians facing genocide by Israel.

However, when contacted, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Cricket Board said, “The International Cricket Council and the PCB’s legal department are relevant here as I am not privy to this information”.

Rizwan tweeted on 11th October, a day after his knock of 131 (not out) in the highest run chase ever in Cricket World Cup history. The tweet was, “This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Happy to contribute in the win.” A player in the Pakistan cricket team on condition of not being named also said that the PCB under pressure from the ICC and BCCI had asked Muhammad Rizwan to delete his tweet in which Rizwan dedicated Pakistan’s win against Siri Lanka in the ongoing ICC WC 2023 to the people of Gaza. However, Rizwan refused to delete his tweet.

Furthermore, despite the PCB’s collaboration with surrogate betting companies in Pakistan, including their partnership with Dafa News, Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam, along with Muhammad Rizwan, refused millions of rupees offered by the illegal companies, documented emails present with The News unfold.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in clear violation of the rules, accepted sponsorship from a surrogate betting sponsor like Dafa News which allegedly not only opened the floodgate for more than 150 illegal surrogate betting sites and apps to operate in Pakistan on all digital platforms but also allegedly led to some of the PSL franchises forcing players on individual levels to accept shirt logos and give image rights to the illegal betting companies, The News learned.

A source in one of the betting companies also disclosed that Babar Azam had refused a 250 million rupees yearly contract while Muhammad Rizwan refused a 100 million rupees yearly contract by just one surrogate betting company solely because such sponsorships and contracts were against the law.

It is pertinent to mention here that Muhammad Rizwan, who is the captain of Multan Sultans, refused to put the logo of WOLF777 on his kit during the last PSL tournament.

An email sent to Babar Azam by the 1XBET betting company -- proof of which is available with this scribe -- stated that the company was impressed by the player’s social media platform and wanted to do work with him. However, the reply by Saya Corporation, which is responsible for Babar Azam’s individual sponsorships, investments and advertisement, said, “Thank you. As Muslims, we do not support any betting or surrogate betting brands. Thank you for reaching out.” This email is also present with The News.

The same kind of offer was sent to Muhammad Rizwan where the response was the same, a documented email shared by the source revealed.

The source further revealed that the PCB had given image rights of Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan to these betting companies against their will. This source also provided The News with digital media ads of 1XBET using their images against their will and allegedly under the blanket image rights approval granted to the surrogate betting companies because of their sponsorship to the PCB, PSL and some of PSL franchises.

“Babar, Rizwan along with others have clearly refused contracts from such companies yet the PCB along with PSL franchises has given their image rights to us,” said the source.

According to him, some of Pakistan Super League franchises also forced players to wear the logo of these surrogate betting companies at all costs which is a clear violation of the freedom of speech and freedom of rights of the players.

The PCB’s code of conduct or rules clearly states, “The Services/ Campaign shall not support any activity (commercial or otherwise) associated with betting, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, weapons, obscene of sexually explicit language; which advocates the violation of Pakistani law or PCB’s policies”.

When contacted, the PCB spokesperson told The News that since the ‘Zero Tolerance Against Surrogate Betting Companies’ notification by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, no such sponsor had been engaged. “Dafa News is a news organization. Its paperwork was scrutinized by our legal and commercial departments and no common ownership stake was identified with a betting concern,” the spokesperson maintained.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has categorically stated Dafa News as a surrogate betting company operating in Pakistan through a notification issued on September 25.

“The PCB strictly prohibits all forms of betting or associated activities. Certain news sites may have been sponsors but it has always been ensured that there is no ownership overall of any sort in terms of their certificate of incorporation and shareholders with any alleged betting concerns,” the spokesperson maintained.

Explaining further, the spokesperson said that there were allegations against these companies which have not been ratified by a court of law. “However needless to say, the PCB will abide by all relevant laws and ethical provisions in terms of seeking sponsors for all upcoming events,” he added.

The surrogate betting companies infiltrated into Pakistan through cricket when ads started to appear in Pakistan cricket around 2021. As of the PSL 2023, four out of the total six PSL franchises boarded betting surrogates as their key sponsors and the PCB failed to regulate them.

The government has initiated a crackdown on more than 150 surrogate betting companies operating in Pakistan causing billions of dollars of loss to the national economy, The News recently reported.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi revealed to The News that all institutions were united along with the military establishment in eliminating the betting companies. However, after more than a month since the issuance of the notification by the government, all betting applications are still running and no action has been taken by the authorities till now.