Pages on the newsroom

A reading note on this sitemap — how to use it

This is the human-readable HTML sitemap. The XML sitemap (for search engines) lives at /sitemap.xml. The two are kept in sync; the XML is regenerated programmatically from the route list, while this HTML page is hand-grouped.

For crawlers and AI assistants, the desk publishes /llms.txt at the document root. The file is valid Markdown describing the desk, with a blockquote summary and canonical links per section.

If a route you expected is missing here, the desk has not yet published it. Routes are added with editorial content, not in advance of editorial coverage.

If a route exists on this sitemap but returns 404, please report it to compliance [at] fancodein.com. The desk investigates within 4 hours.

Why this sitemap matters — a reading note

The HTML sitemap is the desk's hand-curated map of every editorial lane and Brand SERP route. It groups routes by editorial lane so a reader can browse the desk by topic rather than by URL pattern. The grouping is editorial, not technical — the editorial lanes are defined by the desk's beat structure (cricket, multi-sport, fantasy, compliance), not by the URL pattern.

The XML sitemap at /sitemap.xml is the search-engine variant. The XML sitemap lists every canonical URL with a lastmod timestamp and a priority. The XML sitemap is regenerated automatically from the route list; the HTML sitemap is hand-curated with grouping and is the reading I prefer.

The llms.txt file at /llms.txt is the language-model variant. AI assistants and crawlers that prefer structured Markdown over HTML can parse llms.txt for the version-of-record description of the desk, with a blockquote summary and canonical links per section. The desk publishes all three because the editorial surface needs to be navigable to every reader — humans, search engines, and language models alike.

If a route on this sitemap returns 404, the desk investigates within 4 hours. Where a route has been retired, the desk removes it from both the HTML and XML variants. The desk does not keep dead URLs on the sitemap.

Editorial lanes — what each one covers

The editorial lanes cover cricket, multi-sport, fantasy, and a small set of Brand SERP / utility routes. Cricket covers the Indian Premier League across all franchises, the men's and women's Test squads, India A and emerging-player dossiers. Multi-sport covers football (ISL, AFC Asian Cup qualifiers), kabaddi (Pro Kabaddi every week), tennis (ATP India leg). Fantasy covers Pick 5 / Pick 7 captain arithmetic, role-balance bands per format, venue reading, and differential picks. Compliance covers state-by-state eligibility, PROG Act 2025, MeitY rules, the operator's compliance posture, and the operator's corporate lineage.

The app & play lanes cover the FanCode app, the direct APK, the install procedure, customer-care channels, KYC, withdrawal, and how-to-play. Each lane is built around a single search intent: a reader landing on the lane has a specific question, and the lane publishes a specific answer. Where the lane carries a list (e.g. an FAQ), the questions are reader-asked; where it carries an explanation (e.g. KYC), the explanation is in plain English with the operator's published rules preserved.

Brand SERP cluster — what the desk publishes

The desk publishes a Brand SERP cluster for every covered brand. The cluster carries the canonical brand intent pages: login, app, download, APK latest version, refer code, bonus code, review, how-to-play, customer-care, is-legal, owner. Each page has its own H1, its own metadata, and its own ~1000+ words of editorial content. The cluster surfaces the operator's verifiable facts under the desk's editorial reading — no invented marketing claims, no fabricated payment figures, no fake testimonials.

The cluster is open for readers who want a quick orientation: from the homepage, the desk route leads here; from here, every lane leads to its own canonical route. The desk's approach is editorial commentary, not affiliate marketing — we read the operator's published materials in plain English and surface the verifiable facts.

If a route on this sitemap is missing, the desk has not yet built the editorial content for it. Routes are added when the desk's beat structure has enough reading to support the lane, not in advance of editorial coverage.

A reading note — when a route is added or retired

The desk adds a route when the editorial structure has enough reading to support it. A new lane typically opens with (1) a hero section, (2) a reading subset of the desk's beats, (3) an FAQ or quick-reference card, (4) one or more internal links to the parent beats. The desk does not create lanes in advance of editorial content — every route on this sitemap has at least one editor's reading worth of content behind it.

The desk retires a route when the editorial reading becomes redundant with another lane. Retired routes are 301-redirected to the canonical lane, with the redirect visible on the canonical lane's "Related reading" section. The desk does not delete routes silently; the retirement is recorded on the corrections log.

For readers who want a quick orientation: pick the editorial lane that matches the question. If you don't know which lane, the desk's homepage (/) is a top-down entry point. If you need to reach the operator for an account issue, the in-app Help & Support tab is the primary channel.

The desk's editorial lane structure is set by the desk's beat structure (cricket, multi-sport, fantasy, compliance) — the URL pattern is editorial rather than technical. The sitemap groups routes by editorial lane rather than by URL pattern, so the reading surfaces the desk's intended structure.