Anthony Joshua: Betfred's fighter tweets broke gambling guidelines, states ASA
1 November 2023
ByRiyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat
Three tweets by Betfred featuring Anthony Joshua have actually been prohibited for breaching betting advertising guidelines.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the posts shared in March and April promoting a battle.
It said Joshua was most likely to highly interest under-18s - which is forbidden by new gambling ad rules.
Betfred, which rejected claims Joshua interested children, called the decision "unjust" and said it would demand an independent evaluation.
In 2015 the ASA, which regulates advertising in the UK on TV, radio and online, upgraded its rules for promoting gambling., external
The brand-new standards mention that business can not appeal to under-18s "by reflecting or being connected with youth culture".
Betfred's tweets featured videos of Joshua discussing his diet plan, his preparation regular and his pre-fight mindset before his bout with Jermaine Franklin.
The company had actually argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" since its late-night matches are mainly streamed pay-per-view and can only be purchased by over-18s.
It also stated the three tweets weren't advertising however were "editorial" in nature.
The bookies did admit Joshua is hugely popular throughout social media, with 29.3 m fans worldwide, however argued they were "overwhelmingly adult".
However, the ASA discovered about a million of Joshua's 15.7 m Instagram fans were signed up as under-18, as well as 82,000 of his fans on Snapchat.
The guard dog found this promotion code to be "a considerable number" suggesting Joshua was "of inherent strong appeal" to a young audience.
It told Betfred the advertisements "should not appear once again in their existing type" and cautioned it not to use figures who attract young individuals in future.
A Betfred representative stated the business securely believed posting the 3 interviews with Joshua "in no way weakened" its dedication to avoiding strong youth appeal in its marketing.
"It ought to also be remembered that the ASA did not receive a single complaint from a member of the yohaig code general public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this promotion code regard," he included.
Sky Bet just recently had a tweet featuring Gary Neville prohibited for breaching the yohaig code very same rules.
Despite the fact that Neville's footballing career ended in 2011, the ASA found he too was most likely to have a strong attract under-18s - something Sky Bet disagreed with.
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Advertising Standards Authority
Betfred Group
