New Delhi, June 19: The Steve Waugh Foundation Global launched on Friday, announced their association with 6UP, hosts of the ‘runs per over’ SMS game played via mobile.
The game had been launched during IPL-2 and was subsequently taken off after India’s sports minister M S Gill expressed reservations about the game and how it could bring in elements of betting and match-fixing.
But at the official launch here on Friday, 6UP founder George Tomeski said all such fears had been dispelled.
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“We have a product that’s legal and fun,” he said, adding that all doubts raised over the game leading to match-fixing and betting had been laid to rest legally.
“We have made small changes to the game and we’ll keep improving it as we go along,” Tomeski added.
The association with the former Australian captain’s foundation will certainly add to its credibility.
Waugh who was here to launch the foundation on Friday, said while philanthropy and charity was good to do, it required a steady monetary stream.
Through this association, each time someone plays the game of 6UP, five percent of the income will go as charity to Waugh’s Foundation.
Waugh said the SMS product had been “misunderstood” when it was initially launched. “It’s a skillful game and you need to know your cricket,” he added.
Recounting his association with India, Waugh said he was inspired by Mother Teresa and had been involved in charity work through ‘Udayan’ in Kolkata for the last 11 and a half years.
“By nature I am very inquisitive. So every time I tour a country, I go out and see the place and meet the people. In Kolkata during a series, I happened to go to Missionaries of Charity Home and met Mother Teresa and I realised that I could make a tangible difference to people,” he said.
Waugh added that as time passes newer homes and projects run by different NGOs will be identified and adopted.
Reminded about how some NGOs don’t do the work they profess to do, Waugh said: “We will be engaging people to do due diligence. We are going to ensure full transparency.”
—–Agencies