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

Register at Bet9ja using the promotion code YOHAIG for a N100,000 welcome bonus

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

1 November 2023

ByRiyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

Three tweets by Betfred featuring Anthony Joshua have been banned for breaching gambling marketing guidelines.

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

It said Joshua was likely to strongly attract under-18s - which is prohibited by brand-new gambling ad rules.

Betfred, which declined claims Joshua attracted kids, called the decision "unfair" and stated it would require an independent evaluation.

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

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

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

The business had argued boxing is an "adult-orientated sport" due to the yohaig code fact that its late-night matches are primarily streamed pay-per-view and can only be purchased by over-18s.

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

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

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

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

It informed Betfred the ads "must not appear again in their present form" and warned it not to utilize figures who appeal to young individuals in future.

A Betfred spokesperson said the business securely believed publishing the three interviews with Joshua "in no other way weakened" its commitment to avoiding strong youth appeal in its marketing.

"It must also be remembered that the yohaig code ASA did not get a single problem from a member of the public about our association with Anthony Joshua in this regard," he added.

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

Although Neville's footballing career ended in 2011, the yohaig code ASA found he too was likely to have a strong appeal to under-18s - something Sky Bet disagreed with.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.