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

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

1 November 2023

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

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

It stated Joshua was likely to highly attract under-18s - which is prohibited by brand-new gambling advertisement rules.

Betfred, which declined claims Joshua interested kids, called the choice "unjustified" and said it would require an independent review.

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

The brand-new guidelines mention that business can not appeal to under-18s "by reflecting or being related to youth culture".

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

The company had argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" because its late-night matches are mostly streamed pay-per-view and can only be bought by over-18s.

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It also said the three tweets weren't marketing however were "editorial" in nature.

The bookmakers did admit Joshua is hugely popular across social media, with 29.3 m fans worldwide, however argued they were "extremely adult".

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

The guard dog found this to be "a considerable number" implying Joshua was "of fundamental strong appeal" to a young audience.

It told Betfred the advertisements "need to not appear again in their present kind" and alerted it not to use figures who appeal to young individuals in future.

A Betfred spokesman stated the company firmly believed publishing the three interviews with Joshua "in no way undermined" its commitment to preventing strong youth appeal in its marketing.

"It ought to likewise be kept in mind that the ASA did not receive a single grievance from a member of the yohaig code general public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this promotion code respect," he added.

Sky Bet just recently had a tweet including Gary Neville banned for breaching the exact same rules.

Despite the fact that Neville's footballing profession ended in 2011, the ASA found he too was likely to have a strong appeal to under-18s - something Sky Bet disagreed with.

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