ASA Ruling on bet365’s Gambling Advertisement Featuring Granit Xhaka

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against a gambling advertisement promoted by bet365 on Twitter, featuring footballer Granit Xhaka.

Ad with Granit Xhaka

The ad, which was published by Sky Sports Premier League’s Twitter account and promoted by bet365, included an embedded video of Xhaka scoring a goal during a football match.

The ASA challenged whether the ad breached the CAP Code by including an individual likely to have strong appeal to under-18s. The CAP Code states that gambling ads must not be likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons and must not feature individuals with strong appeal to those aged under 18.

Bet365 statemenet

Bet365 argued that the tweet was promoted using the Twitter Amplify feature and that they had controls in place to ensure their content was promoted only to users over 25 years of age. However, the ASA ruled that the ad breached the Code because bet365 had not excluded under-18s from the audience with the highest level of accuracy required for ads likely to appeal to under-18s.

The ASA upheld the complaint and ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form. They advised bet365 not to include individuals or characters with strong appeal to those under 18 years of age in their ads.

This ruling is part of a broader effort to regulate gambling advertisements that may appeal to under-18s. The use of individuals who are likely to attract younger audiences in such ads is being closely scrutinized by regulatory authorities to ensure compliance with advertising standards.