Former Pakistan cricketer, Rashid Latif, has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for allowing domestic teams and PSL franchises to sign a betting company as a sponsor.

Karachi Kings have signed 1XBAT as their Titanium sponsor for the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). 1XBAT is a surrogate brand of a betting website, 1xbet, which is illegal in Pakistan, India and other sub-continent countries. 

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Defending champions, Lahore Qalandars have also signed a partnership with Melbat, which is a sports site operating from melbat.live. However, if you search melbat, the first Google search results show Melbet, which is a betting website. Betting websites use surrogate websites in guise of news to promote betting businesses.

A Twitter handle @CricFactCheck posted a thread on surrogate advertising and the PSL franchises associated with companies this season, which participate in this practice.

Former cricketer took to Twitter, to express his displeasure over the move after the recent ban on Pakistan cricketer, Asif Afridi.

“Asif Afridi banned from all cricket for two years! On one hand, players are banned for corruption but betting companies are encouraged as sponsors to domestic teams/events by cricket authorities,” tweeted Latif.

Whereas, Chief Commercial Officer of Peshawar Zalmi, Nausherwan Effandi, announced on Twitter that his franchise is not looking to partner with any surrogate betting website.

It must be noted, PCB on Tuesday banned Afridi for a period of two years from all cricket after he pleaded guilty as charged for two violations under the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code for Participants.