IPL 2020 sponsor Dream11 rubbishes links with 'fake Sri Lankan' T20 League: Report

Fantasy sports platform Dream11 and streaming platform FanCode app have both come under the scanner for the links with fake Uva T20 League that was supposed to take place in Sri Lanka but instead was taking place near Mohali, Chandigarh. It was announced that the Uva T20 League was announced in the name of being affiliated with Sri Lanka Cricket and it was claimed that many international Sri Lankan cricketers will be playing the tournament.

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It was said that the league was being played in Sri Lanka but it was being played in a local club ground in Sawara village close to Mohali. Dream11’s streaming platform FanCode app live-streamed the league on the opening day. The entire fraud came to fore when SLC cried foul play and declared that they don’t have any association with the league.

IPL 2020 sponsor Dream11 denies association with fake Uva T20 League

The players who participated in the fake Sri Lankan T20 League were allegedly locals from Punjab and they had covered their faces with masks. The live coverage of the matches on YouTube didn’t have any close-up shots of the players so it was difficult to identify them. What is more concerning about this revelation is that the matches were streamed by FanCode app, whose parent company is Dream Sports. One of the brands of Dream Sports is the popular fantasy sports platform Dream11, which is one of the sponsors of IPL 2020.

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However, a Dream11 spokesperson has now come out and denied any association with the fake Sri Lankan T20 League. The Dream11 spokesperson said that Dream11 has had no contact or any form of association with the organisers of the fake UVA League. Dream11 officially placed on record that no use of Dream11 brand or logo was ever authorised or approved and appropriate legal action in this regard, as may be advised, will be taken.

According to The Indian Express, a FanCode app spokesperson said that FanCode follows a strict process for shortlisting and screening potential league partnerships for live streaming of matches. He added before streaming any tournament/ league on their platform, they diligently check if the tournament is approved by a recognised sports authority/ association. FanCode has even claimed that the documents submitted by the organisers to avail streaming of the tournament were forged and have hence filed a police complaint regarding the same themselves.

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While speaking to PTI, BCCI's anti-corruption chief Ajit Singh said that the investigation process is on. He added when they will know about the people involved, they will update their database. Singh also said that they would like to know who was involved. However, he reckoned that only police can take action on this because as a BCCI enforcement agency, they have no jurisdiction over it. Singh also opined that if it was a BCCI-approved league or had players’ participation, they could have taken against them. He further said that if this is done for the purpose of betting, it is a criminal offence and police has the jurisdiction over it.

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IMAGE COURTESY: IPLT20.COM & FANCODE.COM