Updated on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 00:00 IST

Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi, May 12: The SMS game introduced in IPL has been stopped with immediate effect. Earlier a huge controversy sparked off following Sports Minister MS Gill’s remark in which he slammed the game and termed it as ‘betting.’

Reacting to the development, 6 UP, the inventors of the game came out in strong disagreement with India’s Sports Minister. "It is not a betting game - you cannot make a bet. It can't be match fixed or manipulated. It does not contribute to corruption," said their Managing Partner George Tomeski.

"6UP is a game of (predominate) skill. (Supported by written Indian legal opinion and advice)," he had claimed.

Although no pressure was put for the game to be withdrawn, the organisers decided to stop it with immediate effect.

"There was no formal complaints about the game but the Sports Ministers' views were taken into account and the organisers have withdrawn the game," senior BCCI official and a member of the IPL Executive Board Rajiv Shukla told agency.

Gill had last week denounced the SMS game in which fans made ball by ball predictions for cash prizes, saying it amounted to gambling.

"I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains, that is going on. I am concerned, at knowledgeable comments, from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes," Gill had said in a statement.

"This is viewed as 'openly encouraging gambling and betting', which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal; all this 'to make money and enlarge their TV viewership base'," the minister had added.