WPL 2023: BCCI bans teams from partnering with crypto, betting and tobacco companies

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has told the Women's Premier League (WPL) franchises to strictly abstain from having any commercial relations with betting, cryptocurrency, real money, gambling companies and even those which are related to the tobacco industry.

A directive issued by the BCCI to the WPL franchises states that that it does not have any issues with them having any commercial relations with fantasy sports, but it should stay away from the companies involved in the aforementioned domains.

The directive came shortly after the inaugural player auction for the first season of WPL.

In the advisory, BCCI highlighted the dos and don'ts for all the teams before the commencement of the league.

"No Franchisee shall undertake a partnership or any kind of association with an entity that is in any way connected/related to an entity that is involved/operates, directly or indirectly, in the betting/gambling/real money gaming/tobacco sector. The franchisees may engage in partnerships with entities in the fantasy sports sector," the BCCI advisory stated.

It further went on to add franchisees shouldn’t undertake a partnership or any kind of association with with an entity that is involved, or operates directly or indirectly, in the cryptocurrency sector.

BCCI has cautioned the teams that associations or branding with the barred brands may lead to punitive measures and has instructed the franchises to submit copies of all commercial agreements 10 days before the WPL starts. 

The BCCI advisory is consistent with the policies of the government which has barred the betting sites and treats fantasy sports as more a test of skills than luck, as ordered by the Supreme Court of India.

The inaugural season of Women's Premier League (WPL) will be played from March 4 to 26 in Mumbai.

The Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium will host all the matches with the tournament opener expected to be played between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians-owned franchise.

Last year, the IPL had partnered with Indian crypto exchanges CoinSwitch and CoinDCX, both of which promoted their platforms during the matches. Later, the BCCI had banned crypto ads from airing during the IPL as well.

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