Indian Sports Minister MS Gill Blames IPL for Promoting Betting

Indian Sports Minister MS Gill Blames BCCI for Promoting Betting

New Delhi (ABC Live): Indian Sports Minister MS Gill on Saturday blamed BCCI, saying that the board is using the cash-rich Indian Premier League to mint more money rather than promote the game.

While expressing his concerned on “commercial use of cricket for business gains", Gill criticized the BCCI for SMS game which requires fans to make ball by ball predictions for cash prizes in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

"I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains that is going on. I am concerned, at knowledgeable comments, from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes," Gill said in a statement.

"This is viewed as 'openly encouraging gambling and betting', which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal; all this 'to make money and enlarge their TV viewer ship base'," the minister added