“If BCCI President Is Doing It, You Can’t Expect Other Players Not To Do It” – Gautam Gambhir On Sourav Ganguly Endorsing Fantasy Leagues

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, who is the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has said that the Indian players can’t be expected not to endorse fantasy leagues if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly is himself doing the endorsements.

The 40-year-old Gambhir said that the BCCI will have to take a decision on whether the fantasy leagues should be allowed to be endorsed by the players.

| ICC Teams  Rankings | ICC Players Rankings

“If the BCCI president (Ganguly) is doing it, you can’t expect other players not to do it. If he says that no one should be allowed to do it, I think everyone should follow that…

“It has to come from the top. Either we should ban this completely in India. It can’t be statewise. And no one should be allowed to endorse that,” said Gambhir at the Indian Express Idea Exchange.

He further mentioned that most of the endorsements and sponsorships in the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) come from fantasy leagues and the BCCI will have to decide whether this should be allowed. He said:

“In the IPL, most of the endorsements and sponsorships are from fantasy league games such as Dream 11. It should be a collective decision from the BCCI whether we should allow this to happen or not.”

We were very clear that we were not going to endorse any betting site – Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir further told that he has never been approached by surrogate advertisement websites, however, once veteran India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was approached and he rejected to endorse any betting site.

“Never. I think Dinesh Karthik was once approached by a company, I don’t even remember what company it was. We were very clear that we were not going to endorse any betting site,” said Gambhir.

Gautam Gambhir, who has himself endorsed fantasy games, said that as long as cash prizes are not involved a fantasy league is a fine venture.

“I do endorse fantasy (games). I was also very clear that we had this apprehension at one point in time about whether we should or not. Fantasy and betting are probably a little similar, but not exactly the same.

“When I spoke to the owner of the fantasy game I endorse, I asked if they pay back in cash. He said no, we don’t pay back in cash. There are only gifts and hampers involved,” said Gambhir, as quoted by the Indian Express.

“My fantasy contract has expired which I endorsed for one year. But in one year, there was no issue of a person’s money getting stuck in the game.

“That is dangerous. That is a kind of betting. So we all need to be very clear on that front. We need to be very careful about that trend.”

“I personally do not believe in all that. I was always against people endorsing alcohol, tobacco and even for that matter, even this (online betting). I don’t like that because it is a collective responsibility to see what should and should not be promoted in India, especially from the youngsters’ point of view.”

Also Read: IND vs AUS: When You Talk About Virat Kohli Opening The Batting, Imagine The Amount Of Insecurity KL Rahul Must Be Feeling – Gautam Gambhir

Get All Cricket match prediction and fantasy Tips – CLICK HERE

Cricket Match Prediction | T20 World Cup Match Prediction | Today Match Fantasy Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket News and Updates | Cricket Live Score