Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports
 | |
| Abbreviation | FIFS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2017 |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Location | |
| Services | Online fantasy sports betting |
| Fields | Fantasy sports |
| Members | 21 |
Official language | English |
President | Harsh Jain |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Indian Federation of Sports Gaming |
The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports or FIFS is India's only self-governing body for fantasy sports in India and is based in New Delhi. It supports the Indian fantasy sports industry and its interests.[1]
FIFS was previously formed as the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming or IFSG, later changing their name to the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports. The CEO of FIFS is Anwar Shirpurwala,[2] and Harsh Jain is the president and co-founder of Dream11, a fantasy sports website.[3]
History
FIFS was founded as the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming or IFSG in 2017.[4][5] They are registered under section 8 of the Indian Companies Act, 2013. It is the only regulatory and representative body of the fantasy sports industry in India.[6] Former judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri has been appointed as the organization's ombudsman and ethics officer.[7]
Controversies over legality
The State of Kerala received petitions wanting a ban on fantasy gaming sites and applications. The Kerala High Court studied several clauses and constitutional acts and found that rummy, several other card games, darts, ball throwing contests, and shooting contests, even those involving bets, are games of skill, rather than games of chance, and thus not covered by gambling bans. Based on this information, it was decided on 15 February 2022 that because of their similarities to fantasy sports, fantasy sports betting is also a game of skill and is thus legal, according to section 14 (A) of 1976.[8][9]
On 13 April 2019, the Bombay High Court declared fantasy sports betting to be legal, recognizing it as a legitimate industry based on a game of skill.[10]
On 29 July 2021, the Rajasthan High Court reviewed a similar case and finalized a ruling on fantasy sports betting. Similarly to the Kerala ruling, fantasy sports were recognized as a games of skill, rather than illegal betting or gambling, by the 276th Law Commission Report.[11]
On 8 August 2021, the Supreme Court of India officially declared fantasy sports betting legal. The bench ruled that fantasy sports, with or without bets involved, counts as a game of skill involving money and does not constitute gambling or illegal betting.[12][13] Despite this ruling, fantasy sports betting is still banned in the states of Sikkim, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.[14]
On 2 October 2021, a court in Chandigarh dismissed a case seeking to ban fantasy sports betting, stating the game doesn’t involve gambling.[10]
Leadership
- Anwar Shirpurwala, CEO
- Harsh Jain, President
- Bimal Julka, Chairman[15]
- Joy Bhattacharjya, Director General[16]
- Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, Ombudsman, Ethics Officer
- John Loffhagen, Member of Advisory Council
- Amrit Mathur, Member of Advisory Council[17]
- Ratnakar Shetty, Member of Advisory Council[17]
Member organizations
The following is a list of FIFS member fantasy sport organizations:[18]
| Platform | Organization |
|---|---|
| Dream11 | Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd. |
| Fantasy Akhada[19] | Super Six Sports Gaming Pvt Ltd. |
| A23[20] | Head Digital Works Pvt Ltd |
| Guru11 | Intuitor Technofantasy Pvt Ltd. |
| Sportasy | Blossomfield Gamingzone Pvt Ltd. |
| Khelo Fantasy Live[21] | Gig Work Pvt Ltd. |
| Vinfotech | |
| Twelfth Man | |
| FSL11 | |
| Mega Games 11 | |
| Spice Fantasy |
See also
- Fantasy cricket
- Daily fantasy sports
- Fantasy sport in India
- Video gaming in India
References
- ↑ "As IPL 2022 Peaks, Fantasy Cricket Body Loses Punch As Big Online Gaming Companies Quit". Outlookindia. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ↑ "Special session on fantasy sports on first day of BLF on Friday". The Pioneer. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ↑ "Dream11 Turned Fantasy (gaming) Into Reality. Now It's Eyeing A Diversified Sports Tech Future". Forbes India. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ↑ "Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports welcomes I&B Ministry's advisory against online betting ads". The Hindu. 6 October 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ↑ "FIFS Welcomes MIB's Advisories Against Illegal Offshore Betting Platforms Advertisements". News18. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ↑ "Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports Onboards Spice Fantasy as a Start-up Member". News18. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ↑ Hariharan, Sindhu (29 July 2019). "Justice A K Sikri appointed ombudsman of Indian Federation of Sports Gaming - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ↑ Singh, Vicky (15 February 2022). "In A Hat-Trick Of Wins For The Fantasy Sports Sector, Karnataka High Court Also Quashes The Law That Criminalized Fantasy Sports In The State". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Why Fantasy Sports Is Gambling, Not A Sport, Says Sunieta Ojha". Forbes India. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- 1 2 "Is it legal to play fantasy sports like Dream11 for real money in India?". G2G News. 2 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ↑ "Rajasthan High Court dismisses Plea against Online Fantasy Games". Law Insider India. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Supreme Court upholds Dream11 fantasy sports format as game of skill". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ "Supreme Court upholds Rajasthan High Court decision on online fantasy sport platform Dream11". The Hindu. 8 August 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Fantasy or Reality- Leveraging Technology for money Games". Lexology. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Bimal Julka Appointed As Chairman Of Federation Of Indian Fantasy Sports". News18. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ↑ Khosla, Varuni (15 July 2022). "Joy Bhattacharjya appointed director general Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports". mint. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- 1 2 "Fantasy sports industry body onboards two former judges". Techcircle. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ↑ "Members - FIFS". 18 March 2020.
- ↑ Laghate, Gaurav. "Fantasy Akhada in talks to raise $5 million in Series A funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ↑ Khosla, Varuni (16 February 2022). "Gaming app A23 signs Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador". mint. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ↑ "Samir Kochhar named brand ambassador of Khelo Fantasy Live - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 1 December 2022.