NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils were cautioned by BCCI’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) for inviting cheerleaders to a celebrity golf tournament dinner in Gurgaon ahead of their match against the Chennai Super Kings last Friday.

The ACU officials cautioned the franchise to ensure that cricketers remain protected from all external sources other than the team and its officials.

Sources told TOI that the ACU didn’t lodge a complaint with BCCI formally but will mention it in its IPL feedback report when it is prepared after the 2018 season gets over.

“These girls were invited. It was not that the cricketers were partying with these girls. The cheerleaders arrived, attended the dinner and left. However, the ACU has warned the team to ensure such a thing doesn’t happen again. Bringing cheer-girls to party is banned as the ACU code doesn’t permit any outsider to get close to the players,” a top ACU official told TOI on Monday.

Sources said ACU officials had explained to teams like Daredevils not to bring in cheerleaders for team dinners, or to even interact with them. “Now that the team did it, ACU was alert enough to report the incident and briefed the team to avoid such situations in the future,” the official said. The Daredevils management denied these allegations. “The Daredevils don’t get cheerleaders to any of the private events. If the ACU officials are unhappy, they should talk to us,” a team source said.

In the past, cheerleaders were allowed at post-match IPL parties. But after the spot-fixing allegations rocked the richest T20 league in the world, the Indian board became more vigilant and it led to empowering the ACU to ensure the game was clean

