The matter of betting companies appearing in connection with cricket in Pakistan reached a National Assembly committee on Wednesday.

The standing committee on inter-provincial coordination met on Wednesday where Shahida Rehmani raised the issue of the Pakistan Cricket Board re-hiring betting companies that had first appeared in Pakistan Super League’s latest season.

Rehman said that it was a ‘serious matter’ that betting companies had been given sponsorship of the upcoming cricket series between Pakistan and New Zealand despite the fact that the matter had already attracted controversy during the PSL.

She added that associating betting companies with the national team’s tours would bring disrepute to the country. Committee Chairman Nawab Sher Waseer said that the committee is not against any one and already wants sports to be prooted in the country.

Sponsors named 1XBAT, MCW Sports, Wolf777News, BJ Sports, and MelBat had appeared in the PSL and were later revealed to be alisaes used by betting companies.

Betting is illegal in Pakistan and the matter had led to questions being asked by the State Bank of Pakistan of the PCB.