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European Cricket Games Temporarily Suspended Amidst Indian Government's Crackdown on Online Gaming
Follow UsMany other tournaments are expected to be seriously impacted by the crackdown on real-money gaming
European Cricket today took to social media to announce that all games part of the European Cricket Network (ECN) will be temporarily suspended starting August 25th (Monday).
Over half a dozen tournaments involving European teams and nations fall under the ECN’s bracket, including European Cricket Series (ECS), European Cricket League (ECL), European Cricket Championship (Women) and international cricket matches involving European Countries. This entire program has now been put on a halt, with all competitions paused.
While more details are awaited, the announcement is likely a direct result of the Indian government’s crackdown on Online Gaming. Earlier this week, Indian President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill days after the bill was first passed in the Lok Sabha, followed by the Rajya Sabha.
According to the bill, any application or online platform offering money-based games or related services in India is illegal. This includes Fantasy Sports, and that’s what comes as a major blow for the ECN, which is heavily reliant on financial backing from a partnership with Dream11, India's biggest fantasy sports platform. The BBC reported earlier this week that Dream 11 is set to pull the plug on its partnership with the ECN.
Two days back, Dream11, which is also the Indian cricket team’s lead jersey sponsor, stopped all paid contests on its app and pivoted to free contests entirely.
An official statement from the app read: “We have always been and always will be a law-abiding company, and have conducted our business in compliance with the laws. While we believe that progressive regulations would have been the right way forward, we will respect the law and will fully comply with ‘The Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Law, 2025’.”
The suspension of the ECN could just turn out to be the tip of the iceberg, with many other smaller tournaments, including state leagues backed by Fantasy and betting platforms, expected to be seriously impacted by the crackdown on real-money gaming.