Anthony Joshua: Betfred's Boxer Tweets Broke Gambling Rules, Says ASA

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Anthony Joshua: Betfred's boxer tweets broke gambling rules, says ASA

1 November 2023

ByRiyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

Three tweets by Betfred including Anthony Joshua have actually been prohibited for breaching betting advertising rules.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the posts shared in March and April promoting a battle.

It said Joshua was likely to highly interest under-18s - which is forbidden by new gambling advertisement rules.

Betfred, which rejected claims Joshua appealed to kids, called the choice "unjustified" and said it would require an independent evaluation.

Last year the ASA, which controls advertising in the UK on TV, radio and online, updated its guidelines for promoting gambling., external

The brand-new guidelines state that business can not interest under-18s "by showing or being associated with youth culture".

Betfred's tweets included videos of Joshua discussing his diet plan, his preparation routine and his pre-fight mindset before his bout with Jermaine Franklin.

The company had actually argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" due to the fact that its late-night matches are mainly streamed pay-per-view and can just be bought by over-18s.

It also stated the 3 tweets weren't advertising however were "editorial" in nature.

The bookmakers did admit Joshua is extremely popular across social media, with 29.3 m followers worldwide, but argued they were "overwhelmingly adult".

However, the ASA discovered about a countless Joshua's 15.7 m Instagram followers were signed up as under-18, in addition to 82,000 of his fans on Snapchat.

The guard dog discovered this promotion code to be "a significant number" meaning Joshua was "of intrinsic strong appeal" to a young audience.

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It told Betfred the ads "must not appear once again in their current kind" and warned it not to utilize figures who interest young people in future.

A Betfred spokesman stated the business firmly believed publishing the three interviews with Joshua "in no chance weakened" its commitment to avoiding strong youth appeal in its marketing.

"It should likewise be remembered that the ASA did not get a single complaint from a member of the general public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this promotion code respect," he added.

Sky Bet recently had a tweet featuring Gary Neville prohibited for breaching the yohaig code very same guidelines.

Although Neville's footballing profession ended in 2011, the ASA discovered he too was most likely to have a strong interest under-18s - something Sky Bet disagreed with.

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