The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) has appointed Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Justice (Retd.) GS Sistani, former Judge, Delhi High Court, as panel members of Fantasy Sports Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
Backed by Dream11, the self-regulatory body for the fantasy sports industry formulates the code of ethics for responsible gaming, along with setting best practices and standards in the industry.
Justice (Retd.) AK Sikri, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, has been appointed as the chairman of the FSRA. The appointments come in the wake of the legal hurdles faced by the fantasy sports industry along with other real money games. FIFS was a party to litigation that challenged the constitutionality of ban laws in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Although the High court rulings favored the fantasy gaming companies, the proposed GST reforms can brew more trouble for the sector. Justice (Retd.) Mudgal’s role will be to work as an independent regulatory body to ensure that regulations and constitution are abided by the fantasy gaming industry.
“The Indian fantasy sports industry is at an inflection point. The extensive knowledge, collective experience, and expertise of Justice (Retd.) Mudgal and Justice (Retd.) Sistani will be invaluable to lead this sunshine sector and chart the path towards its long-term growth trajectory,” Bimal Julka, chairman, FIFS, said.
Earlier last month, the body had also roped in Joy Bhattacharjya – an Indian quizzer, orator, writer, sports producer, chief executive of the Prime Volleyball league, and cricket analyst –as the director general of FIFS.
The body has been driving self-regulation in the industry since 2017 and also boasts of an illustrious advisory panel featuring some of the veterans of sports industries like Professor Ratnakar Shetty, former Chief Administrative Officer for the BCCI, and Amrit Mathur, former secretary of the Sports Authority of India.
Earlier in April, we reported about a supposed rift between the members of Dream11 founded think tank. Unicorn MPL, fantasy operator MyTeam11 quit FIFS in recent times. StarPick, 11Wickets and Balle Baazi among other fantasy sports operators have also quit FIFS in recent years over disagreements with the industry body’s policies and charter.