Instagram betting ads featuring Kane and Haaland banned

The advertising watchdog said the adverts featuring top footballers had a strong appeal to under-18s. Kane and Haaland Instagram betting ads banned Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Harry Kane (left) and Erling Haaland in a Tottenham vs Manchester City game in 2023 Harry Kane and Erling Halaand tussling during a match Instagram betting ads featuring Kane and Haaland banned Two adverts on Instagram which featured football stars Harry Kane and Erling Haaland were banned for being "irresponsible", the UK's advertising watchdog says. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads, which were for an online betting site, breached their code because Kane and Haaland had a "strong appeal to under-18s". Oddschecker, which posted the images, said they were "primarily editorial in nature, rather than ads" and that it had set the account to 18-plus. However, the ASA said that there was "at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up" to Instagram. The ASA investigated the adverts in question, from November, after a complaint from a researcher at Bristol University. One showed a picture of Kane with the caption: "Harry Kane is the most backed player to win the Ballon d'Or in 2026 (32% of bets)," with a trophy emoji. The other showed Haaland and was captioned: "In the last 24 hours, Norway to win the 2026 World Cup is the most-backed bet placed through oddschecker." Cyan Blue Odds Ltd, trading as Oddschecker, said it recognised featuring top footballers could appeal to children, and had set the account so only over-18s could see it. It argued the posts were not advertising but more general "editorial" content, which was why there was no age disclaimer or message promoting responsible gambling. The ASA dismissed the defence, considering Kane and Haaland "to be a high risk of strong appeal to under-18s". It added: "For those reasons, we concluded the ads were irresponsible and breached the code." The ASA separately found another Instagram ad featuring a footballer did not break its rules. The advert for Betway featured a picture of ex-Arsenal forward and now pundit Thierry Henry, but the ASA said he was unlikely to appeal strongly to under-18s and therefore did not go against its code. Dressed in a black hoodie, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton walks in the Paddock ahead of a race UK gambling ads with Lewis Hamilton and Chelsea logo banned over influence on children A shopper walks past a Nike store with a large lit-up version of the company's logo on the side. Nike, Superdry and Lacoste ads banned over misleading green claims A girl and her dog looking at a phone screen in a stock photo How can you keep your child safe online? A green promotional banner with black squares and rectangles forming pixels, moving in from the right. The text says: “Tech Decoded: The world’s biggest tech news in your inbox every Monday.” Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here. to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. YouTuber Harry Jackson has made a film about his epic two-wheeled journey. The World Happiness Reports finds the more time spent on social media the greater loss of wellbeing. The platform said it would remove end-to-end encrypted messages, a major U‑turn by parent company Meta. Some parents believe whether the government will take strong enough action remains to be seen. Rhun ap Iorwerth said schools would be empowered to make their own decisions, with a ban expected for England. A group of teenagers claim they need social media "to survive", but one head calls it "a disaster". Sixth form students views are part of the government consultation. Social media platforms used to be about communication between friends. The business model is to increase the time people spend on their apps and increase ad revenue.