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

Anthony Joshua: Betfred’s boxer tweets broke betting rules, says ASA

1 November 2023

ByRiyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

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

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

It said Joshua was likely to strongly interest under-18s – which is prohibited by new betting ad guidelines.

Betfred, which rejected claims Joshua attracted children, called the decision “unfair” and stated it would demand an independent evaluation.

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

The new guidelines mention that companies can not interest under-18s “by reflecting or being connected with youth culture”.

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

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

It also said the 3 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 “extremely adult”.

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

The watchdog found this promotion code to be “a substantial number” implying Joshua was “of intrinsic strong appeal” to a young audience.

It told Betfred the advertisements “must not appear once again in their existing form” and warned it not to utilize figures who interest young in future.

A Betfred spokesman said the company strongly thought publishing the 3 interviews with Joshua “in no method weakened” its dedication to preventing strong youth appeal in its marketing.

“It needs to also be kept in mind that the ASA did not get a single grievance from a member of the general public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this promotion code respect,” he included.

Sky Bet recently had a tweet including Gary Neville prohibited for breaching the very same rules.

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

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