Surrogate advertising in Pakistan cricket under radar of government

Gambling sites entering Pakistan cricket via surrogate advertising is now under the government's notice, and there is a possibility that action will be taken soon.

According to details, the title sponsor of the Pakistan - England Test series 'Dafa News' comes with the same logo as 'Dafabet' in other countries. The interest of gambling companies in Pakistan cricket has increased significantly, as local laws do not allow them to advertise, hence the operation is underway with a slight name change.

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This method is called surrogate advertising and many companies are sponsoring bilateral series; even in PSL, franchises have also signed agreements with these companies.

PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja had strictly forbidden to do this some time ago, but surprisingly, it is underway in full swing. If you look at its social media profile, the company operates from India and the website belongs to the betting company 'Dafabet'.

When the ad was released, it was clear that betting websites would not be allowed to advertise. As betting is legal in England, there are large "Dafabet" hoardings in the ground during cricket matches.

In an exclusive conversation, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Relations and Sports, Ehsan ur Rehman Mazari said that gambling companies' advertising could not be tolerated.

"Cricket is the favourite sport of the youth. We will not allow our new generation to be attracted to wrongdoing. After returning home, I will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and then decide on the next course of action," he said.

On the other hand, on November 30, this correspondent asked questions to PCB Director of Media Sami Al Hassan Burney that the sponsor of the Test series from England is also Dafa News, the company with the same logo is also Dafa Bet.

He said earlier that this is not surrogate advertising, so did PCB ever talk to Dafa about the logo and name, but despite the reminder, he did not think it was appropriate to respond. 

During the T20 series, PCB said that Dafa is a news website and has nothing to do with a gambling site. Meanwhile, some circles claimed that the matter has now gone beyond surrogate advertising. More details in this regard will be revealed in the next few days.