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

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

1 November 2023

ByRiyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

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Three tweets by Betfred including Anthony Joshua have been prohibited for breaching gambling advertising guidelines.

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

It stated Joshua was likely to highly interest under-18s - which is forbidden by brand-new gaming ad rules.

Betfred, which rejected claims Joshua appealed to kids, called the decision "unfair" and said it would require an independent review.

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

The new guidelines specify that business can not appeal to under-18s "by showing or being associated with 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 business had argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" because its late-night matches are mainly streamed pay-per-view and can just be bought by over-18s.

It likewise said the 3 tweets weren't marketing however were "editorial" in nature.

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

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

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

It informed Betfred the advertisements "need to not appear again in their current form" and alerted it not to use figures who interest youths in future.

A Betfred representative stated the business strongly believed posting the 3 interviews with Joshua "in no chance weakened" its commitment to avoiding strong youth appeal in its marketing.

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"It must likewise be remembered that the ASA did not get a single grievance from a member of the 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 very same rules.

Although Neville's footballing career 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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