Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly in trouble for promoting Fantasy Sports Apps
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court consisted of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendhi, who served legal notice to Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, former Indian captain and current chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly. Film stars including Prakash Raj, Tammana, Rana and Sudeep Khan for advertising online sports apps.
The notices were issued in response to the case filed by Mohammad Rizvi, a lawyer. Rizvi had condemned the advertisement of the fantasy sports app made by iconic sports and film personalities, as some youth committed suicide after losing money after participating in such an app in the state.
“Are these teams playing for the state?” Madras High Court
Hearing the matter, the Madurai bench questioned the credibility of such apps and showered accusations on the owners for using celebrities to lure common people into downloading these money-making apps. Virat Kohli is the brand ambassador Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Sourav Ganguly advertise My11Circle. All the above names are required to respond to this legal notice by 19 November.
“The apps are named after IPL teams like Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and some apps are also named after state names. Are these teams playing for the state, ”the bench quoted News18 as saying.
In the month of August, a case was registered against the captain of the Indian cricket team for persuading the common people to download the sports fantasy app. A Chennai-based lawyer demanded an immediate ban on online gambling apps as well as the arrest of celebrities. He also termed such apps as dangerous and stated in his case that they violate Article 21 of the Constitution of India, as it violates the right to life.
Interestingly, the case was filed in the Madras High Court after the Indian cricket team was implicated in fantasy gaming platform MPL as the apparel sponsor of the Indian cricket team for a period of three years. MPL replaces Naik, who had a five-year deal from 2016 to 2020 and is expected to pay Rs. Was paying a large amount of Rs. 88 lakhs. On the other hand, MPL has sealed the deal with a rate of Rs. 65 lakhs per match. In addition, another fantasy platform is the title sponsor of the ongoing 13th edition of Dream 11, Indian Premier League.
