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

Anthony Joshua: Betfred's boxer tweets broke gambling guidelines, states ASA

1 November 2023

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

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

It said Joshua was likely to strongly appeal to under-18s - which is prohibited by new gaming advertisement rules.

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

In 2015 the yohaig code ASA, which manages marketing in the UK on TV, radio and online, updated its rules for promoting gambling., external

The brand-new standards state that companies can not interest under-18s "by showing or being connected with youth culture".

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

The company had argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" since its late-night matches are mainly streamed pay-per-view and can just be purchased by over-18s.

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

The bookies did admit Joshua is hugely popular throughout social media, with 29.3 m followers worldwide, however argued they were "extremely adult".

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

The watchdog discovered this to be "a significant number" indicating Joshua was "of intrinsic strong appeal" to a young audience.

It told Betfred the advertisements "should not appear once again in their current form" and cautioned it not to utilize figures who interest youths in future.

A Betfred representative said the business firmly thought posting the 3 interviews with Joshua "in no other way weakened" its dedication to preventing strong youth appeal in its marketing.

"It needs to likewise be kept in mind that the ASA did not get a single complaint from a member of the general public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this respect," he added.

Sky Bet just recently had a tweet featuring Gary Neville banned for breaching the 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 appeal to under-18s - something Sky Bet disagreed with.