On February 13, the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League began. However, the league was scrutinized after some teams signed sponsorship deals with surrogate websites of illegal offshore gambling firms.
Casino news reports say the Pakistani government doesn’t allow gambling in the country. According to the Prevention of Gambling Act of 1997, citizens can’t participate in gambling. However, the government enables gambling within tourist complexes. Also, only foreigners can gamble on the premises.
Although Pakistani citizens can’t gamble, offshore gambling platforms are promoted via some teams in the T20 League. According to sportsbook pay per head sources, some gambling sites sponsored some PSL teams.
Pakistan Super League Under Fire
Some of the teams in the event have surrogate sponsors, such Wolf777News, 1xBAT, BJ Sports, and MelBat.
Acording to a gambling news blog, Nadeem Omar’s Quetta Gladiators have linked with MCW Sports, a proxy site for the gambling and sports-betting platform CasinoMWC. The group has also allied with BJ Sports, a stand-in site for the Curaçao-based Baji Casino. Both websites appear to be affiliated in some way, as they feature advertisements for one other.
The Karachi Kings, owned by Salman Iqbal, has partnered with 1xBAT, commonly known as 1xBET, an online gambling corporation in Cyprus. Interestingly, despite being declared bankrupt by the Dutch Supreme Court in January, the firm is still actively trading in several other nations.
According to PPH bookie sources, team owner Alamgir Khan Tareenis is advertising his news site Wolf777News through his Multan Sultans. Wolf777 is a virtual casino that offers live dealer games and employs Wolf777News as a front page.
Fawad Rana, the owner of the Lahore Qalandars, has Melbat printed on the back of the team’s shirts. Melbat is a Curaçao-based offshoot of Melbet, an online gambling operation. Melbet is a service that runs on a website and a mobile app.
