The Pakistani government has implemented a zero-tolerance policy towards broadcasting of betting and gambling advertisements. Acknowledging the policy, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) has released an official statement regarding gambling adverts that were aired during the broadcast of the second Test match between Australia and Pakistan in Melbourne which caused a disruption in the telecast.

Much like India, gambling and betting is also banned in Pakistan. In its statement, PTV shared that they will be committing towards the government’s policy and work with their broadcasters and stakeholders to stop betting and gambling adverts from being aired. The broadcaster reassured everyone that they will work to enable a smooth telecast of the matches and abide by the rules, reported Times of Karachi.

Some sports events are usually plagued by illegal offshore betting platforms or their surrogates as sponsors who promote their websites to lure in unsuspecting viewers. This time around, there was a direct relationship between the broadcasters and betting operatives, which caught the eyes of the people and the government.

Multiple surrogate platforms like 1xBat, Melbat, Wolf777 News have previously been spotted as team and event sponsors in Pakistan. These betting platforms are usually based offshore, in countries which are tax havens.

Meanwhile, these illegal offshore betting platforms and their surrogates are also plaguing the Indian online gaming sector, creating a bad reputation for the real money gaming sector. People are usually duped by their promotions and end up losing money.

While the details on how and why the deal went through have not come out yet, PTV has expressed regret for the error and promised that no further disruptions due to gambling adverts will be caused in the future.