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May 11 - The organizers of the Indian Premier League currently being played out in South Africa, have come under fire by their own country's government for encouraging viewers and cricket fans to bet on the event.
The Indian Sports Minister, Manohar Singh Gill, speaking for the government, said that the IPL was "encouraging gambling and betting" by running an SMS contest calling on spectators to make correct predictions regarding the sequence of runs scored during the competition.
IPL heads defended their right to run the SMS contest over the weekend. "SMS games are there in every sport all over the world," said a spokesperson. "If there is any report of gambling within the game, we will look into it."
In a statement, Minister Gill said: "I see the commercial use for cricket gains that is going on. I am concerned about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes."
"This is viewed as openly encouraging gambling and betting which official bodies do not resort to," continued Gill, "even in countries were betting is legal - all this to make money and enlarge their TV viewership base."
The Indian government is largely concerned that previous cases of match fixing in international cricket events do not repeat themselves in the current IPL competition.
The Indian Premier League was shifted to South Africa due to heightened security concerns, as the dates of the competition clashed with the Indian elections.
"We have already had a match fixing scandal in the game," said Gill. "It seems the International Cricket Council had expressed concerns about such possibilities in the IPL. The game has to be protected for future generations.
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