Category: Sports

Despite Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cooperation with surrogate betting companies in Pakistan, including their partnership with Dafa News, Babar Azam (Pakistan Cricket Team Captain) and Mohammad Rizwan together, rejected the offer of crores of rupees from these organisations, The News has revealed.

Pakistan cricket team’s wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan came under intense pressure and was asked by the Board to delete his tweet in which he dedicated the team’s historic win against Sri Lanka to the Palestinians.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has accepted sponsorship as a surrogate betting sponsor like Dafa News in flagrant violation of the rules, allegedly to operate on all digital platforms. It has opened the floodgates to more than 150 illegal surrogate betting sites and apps, and some PSL franchises are reportedly allowing individual players to accept shirt logos and give image rights to these illegal gambling companies.

One player revealed on condition of anonymity that PCB came under pressure from ICC and BCCI, asking Mohammad Rizwan to delete his tweet in which Rizwan dedicated Pakistan’s victory against Sri Lanka in CCWC 2023 was named after the people of Gaza.

However, Rizwan refused to delete his tweet. Sources from one of the gambling companies also revealed that Babar Azam turned down an annual contract worth Rs 250 million while Mohammad Rizwan turned down a surrogate betting company’s Rs 100 million annual contract because such sponsorships and contracts are against the law.

Email sent by betting company to Babar Azam

It should be noted that Multan Sultans captain Muhammad Rizwan refused to put WOLF777 logo on his kit during the last PSL tournament. An email sent by 1XBET betting company to Babar Azam said that the company was impressed by the player’s social media platform and wanted to work with the individual. However, Saia Corporation, which is responsible for Babar Azam’s individual sponsorships, responded by saying, “Thank you. As Muslims, we do not endorse any betting or surrogate betting brands. Thanks for getting in touch. Have a nice day.” This email is also available to The News. A similar offer was also made to Muhammad Rizwan, to which the answer was the same.

PCB gave the image rights of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to these betting companies against their will. Sources said that Babar, Rizwan, and others have categorically refused to sign contracts with such companies yet PCB has given us their image rights along with PSL franchises.

Sources said that some Pakistan Super League franchises also forced players to wear the logos of these surrogate betting companies at any cost, which is a clear violation of the players’ rights to freedom of expression and liberty.

PCB spokesperson statement:

When contacted, a PCB spokesperson told The News that no such sponsor has been roped in since the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s zero-tolerance notification against surrogate betting companies.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a notification issued on September 25, declared Defa News as a surrogate betting company. The spokesperson said that PCB strictly prohibits any form of gambling or related activities. Some news sites may be sponsors but it is always ensured that their certificate of incorporation and shareholders do not have any ownership of alleged gambling concerns.

He further said that there are allegations against these companies which the court has not confirmed. However, PCB will abide by all relevant laws and ethical provisions in seeking sponsors for all future events.

The correspondent showed through WhatsApp to the PCB spokesperson the advertisements of these surrogate betting companies using the pictures of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan on social media and asked “How PCB is not responsible for this? These companies are clearly using pictures of Rizwan and Babar without their consent”.

These surrogate betting companies entered Pakistan through cricket when advertisements started appearing in Pakistan Cricket around 2021. From PSL 2023, four of the total six PSL franchises have embarked on betting surrogates as their key sponsors and the PCB failed to regulate them. The News recently reported that the government of Pakistan It has started a crackdown against more than 150 surrogate betting companies operating in the country, which are causing billions of dollars in damage to the country’s economy.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Murtaza Solangi revealed in a conversation with The News that all institutions are united with the military establishment in eliminating these betting companies. However, even after more than a month has passed since the notification was issued by the government today, all these betting apps are still running and no action has been taken by the authorities.

Pakistani PUBG mobile team Agonxi8 has been eliminated from PMGC (PUBG mobile global championship) in the league stages.

PMGC’s 48 teams were divided into three groups, GREEN, RED, and YELLOW. Team i8 was in group green and their matches were scheduled from November 2-5.

A total of 16 teams from group green were competing in their group stage matches. 11 teams from the top would’ve qualified for the next stage. The top 3 teams from the group stages directly qualified for finals while the remaining 8 teams had to qualify for the survival stage. Team i8 was on the 15th spot and got eliminated.

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Team Agonxi8 is a good team from Pakistan and from the South Asia region. They have won PMPL (PUBG mobile pro league) Pakistan three times (PMPL fall 2022, PMPL spring 2023 and PMPL fall 2023) also PMCO (PUBG Mobile Club Open) fall 2021.

They faced many difficulties before this mega event like visa issues and the gaming devices on which this event was to be played.  

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All the teams reached the event venue 5-6 days ago, collected their devices, and started practicing. On the other hand, i8 team’s three players reached 1-2 days ago due to visa issues, while two players didn’t get visas and played from Pakistan. Both players who were playing from Pakistan collected their devices just a few hours before the event had started.

Another problem they faced was the communication gap, which meant all teams were sitting at one table and playing the game at the event venue, while our players were playing from different countries.

Two teams from Pakistan qualified for PMGC. Our second team is 7E (Seventh Element) and they are also very aggressive players. Their gun skills are next level and they are too good in rotations.

They have qualified through PMPL South Asia and are playing for the first time on a global stage like PMGC. They are placed in group Red, and their matches are scheduled from November 9-12.

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We wish you the best of luck with team 7E and players Aliyan, Ashad, Divine, Goku bot, and T24 op for their PMGC journey. We hope they will give their best and make our country proud.

PMGC is a LAN (Local Area Network) event in Malaysia, starting from November 2, having a prize pool of $3 million.

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe has dismissed the country’s cricket Board over the poor performance of the national cricket team in the ICC ODI World Cup.

According to AFP News Agency, relations with the board were strained over allegations of corruption by the sports minister, leading to the Sri Lankan board being sacked after a humiliating defeat by India. 1996 World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Rana Tunga has been handed over charge while he has also been appointed as the interim chairman.

#BREAKING Sri Lanka’s sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe has sacked the national cricket board, days after a humiliating defeat by India at the World Cup pic.twitter.com/wl9QHV5srw

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 6, 2023

A statement has been released by the Sri Lankan Sports Minister’s office dismissing the board and announcing handing over responsibilities to Rana Tunga. A seven-member panel has been formed by the Sports Minister and retired judges of the Supreme Court are also included in the panel. The Sports Minister demanded the resignations of the entire board. (ausoma.org) The secretary of the board, Mohan D’Silva, had announced his resignation a day earlier.

It should be noted that the Sri Lankan cricket team is currently ranked seventh in the points table, having won only two out of seven matches.

West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine has announced his retirement from international cricket.

Sunil Narine issued a statement on Instagram on Sunday saying that ‘it has been four years since he last represented West Indies. “Now I am announcing my retirement from international cricket, I will continue to play in franchise cricket.”

“Thanks to my family for supporting me and especially my father who always stood by me, I also thank Cricket West Indies, coaching staff, and fans,” Narayan said.

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Sunil Narine represented the West Indies in six Tests, 65 ODIs, and 51 T20 matches. Narine took 21 wickets in Tests, 92 in ODIs, and 52 in T20 Internationals.

The tenure of the management committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headed by Zaka Ashraf has been extended by 3 months.

According to sources at the Prime Minister’s House, the Federal Cabinet approved the extension of the period of the Circulation Summary Management Committee. In the summary, special reference has been made to the limited powers of the PCB Management Committee.

Sources in the Prime Minister’s House say that according to the summary, the management committee will deal with the day-to-day affairs. However, the management committee will not have any appointment authority.

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Zaka Ashraf has announced a reward of Rs 1 million for Fakhar Zaman.

Zaka Ashraf also spoke to Fakhar Zaman on the phone after the match against New Zealand and praised his aggressive innings. Zaka Ashraf also expressed his best wishes for the upcoming matches, he said that he hopes you will play more such innings.

It should be noted that in the 35th match of the ICC ODI World Cup today, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 21 runs under the Duckworth-Louis (DLS) method.

Fakhar Zaman played an unbeaten innings of 126 runs off 81 balls, his innings included 11 sixes and 8 fours. Fakhar Zaman also equaled Shahid Afridi’s record for most sixes in an innings.

Earlier, Shahid Afridi hit 11 sixes in his record-breaking innings against Sri Lanka in 1996.

In the 35th match of the ICC ODI World Cup, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 21 runs under the Duckworth-Louis (DLS) method after a high-scoring thriller.

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bow first.

The New Zealand team scored 401 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 50 overs, with opener Richan Ravinder playing an innings of 108 runs. Captain Kane Williamson was dismissed for 95 while opener Devon Conway put up 35, Daryl Mitchell 29, Mark Chapman 39, and Glenn Phillips was dismissed for 41 runs. Mitchell Santner remained not out with 26 and Tom Latham scored 2 runs.

For Pakistan, Muhammad Wasim Jr. took three wickets, while Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Haris Rauf took one wicket each.

In response to New Zealand’s target of 402 runs, Pakistan lost its first wicket at 11 runs when Abdullah Shafique returned to the pavilion after scoring only four runs.

After that, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman took over the crease. Zaman scored his 11th century with the help of 9 sixes and 6 fours off 63 balls, the fastest century by a Pakistani in the World Cup. Pakistan scored 160 runs for the loss of one wicket before the match was stopped due to rain.

Before the rain stopped for the first time, Pakistan had scored 160 runs for one wicket in 21.3 overs, New Zealand had scored 133 runs for one wicket in 21 overs, and Pakistan was ahead by 10 runs on the Duckworth-Louis method. Pakistan was given the target of 342 runs in 41 overs after cut off.

But the match was stopped for the second time due to rain, under the Duckworth-Louis (DLS) method, Pakistan was leading by 21 runs. In 25.3 overs, Pakistan had to score 179 runs for one wicket. The national team scored 200 runs for the loss of one wicket in 25.3 overs. Continuous rain caused the match to be abandoned and Pakistan was declared the winner by 21 runs under the DLS method.

Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam remained unbeaten. Fakhar scored 126 on 81 balls while Babar score 66 runs off 63 balls.

Fakhar Zaman has scored Pakistan’s fastest century in the World Cup in the crucial match against New Zealand on Saturday. The all-important match is being played in Bengaluru in the Indian state of Karnataka.

Chasing New Zealand’s mammoth total of 401, Pakistan lost its first wicket at 11 runs when Abdullah Shafique returned to the pavilion after scoring only four runs.

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman then took over the crease. Zaman scored his 11th century with the help of 9 sixes and 6 fours off 63 balls, the fastest century by Pakistan in the World Cup.