Sourav Ganguly says there's no conflict of interest in him endorsing fantasy cricket game

After getting entangled in another conflict of interest issue for endorsing a fantasy cricket brand, former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly responded by saying that he doesn’t see it as a conflict case.

In a report by The Indian Express, Ganguly was quoted saying, “I don’t think there is any conflict in it, it’s my personal thing. Had I tweeted about Dream 11, it would have come under conflict of interest. I don’t see any conflict in that tweet.”

The #INDvsBAN series is on fire! The excitement continues in the 3rd match with series levelled. Will #TeamIndia keep up the winning streak or will Bangladesh bounce back? Beat my team on @My11Cirlce & Win Big. Make Your Team Now!

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) November 8, 2019

Before the third T20I between India and Nagpur at Nagpur, Ganguly tweeted about My11circle, a fantasy cricket league, asking people to participate and beat the team he has picked from both the squads.

He tweeted, “The #INDvsBAN series is on fire! The excitement continues in the 3rd match with series levelled. Will #TeamIndia keep up the winning streak or will Bangladesh bounce back? Beat my team on @My11Cirlce & Win Big. Make Your Team Now!”

The tweet raised questions about conflict of interest as Ganguly, being the BCCI president, was promoting a rival of Dream 11 – another fantasy game website and mobile app which signed a four-year contract with BCCI as the official partner for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Apart from tweeting about a rival fantasy cricket league, another aspect of the issue is that Ganguly could have information about the Indian cricket team, like team composition or playing XI, because of his role as president of BCCI. This can also be a case for conflict of interest.

Earlier this year, Ganguly also saw trouble under BCCI’s conflict of interest clause for being the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and also associated with IPL franchise Delhi Capitals in a mentorship role. He was also a part of the Cricket Advisory Committee and also doing commentary. BCCI Ethics Officer DK Jain told Ganguly about how his various roles with Indian cricket fall under conflict of interest and he had to stick to one job.