Peshawar High Court On Thursday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (pcb) by international gambling companies as Pakistan Super League (PSL) from sponsoring and banning its advertising.
Pakistani citizen Tanseer Shirazi filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court in March last year against the sponsorship of the PSL by gambling companies.
The case was heard today by a two-member bench of Peshawar High Court comprising Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Waqar Ahmed.
International gambling companies started sponsoring different teams and players in PSL under different names, which was also criticized on social media.
The logos of these companies are advertised on the players’ shirts while the entire team is also sponsored by various companies.
Last year, the federal caretaker government had barred the PCB from sponsoring the PSL and banned the advertising of these companies following criticism on social media.
The petitioner’s lawyer Muhammad Nauman Mohib Kakakhil told Independent Urdu that representatives of Pakistan Electronics Media Regulatory Authority, PCB, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and State Bank appeared in the court.
Petitioner Nauman Mohib Kakakhil said that ‘in the court we presented our position and presented evidence in the court of various gambling companies sponsoring players in Pakistan’s international matches including PSL.’
He said, “We also presented photographs of Mohammad Rizwan in the court with a logo of a gambling company on his shirt and Mohammad Rizwan had put a bandage to hide the logo.”
During the hearing in the court, Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim remarked that Muhammad Rizwan taping the logo of the gambling company means that the players also do not like it.
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Nauman Mohib Kakakhil said, ‘The court was told that various companies regularly have helplines in Pakistan that encourage people to gamble online during the PSL.’
Similarly, the petitioner’s lawyer Nauman Mohib Kakakhel told the court that ‘these companies present themselves as sports news websites and sports product companies but apparently they are gambling companies.’
According to Nauman Mohib Kakakhil, the court has banned these companies from advertising under Pakistan’s 1977 law, which prohibits gambling.
In Pakistan, under the Prevention of Gambling Act of 1977, any kind of gambling is prohibited and the law prescribes punishment of one month to one year for those who gamble.
PCB’s counsel told the court that ‘following this application we have taken various seats and we have banned all such companies including 1xBat and MeIBaT Company B’.
It was informed by PCB that these companies will not sponsor PSL at national and international level, however PCB said that international matches are organized by ICC.
On this, the court said that the logos of these companies will not be on the shirts etc. of the Pakistani players even at the international level because these players are under the control of the PCB and it is the responsibility of the PCB.
The court, while giving the verdict, restrained the PCB from sponsoring any team or advertising the logo on the player’s shirt on behalf of these companies in the PSL and ordered to strictly follow the decision.
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2024-09-20 08:39:53
