Instagram betting ads featuring Kane and Haaland banned

Two adverts connected Instagram which featured shot stars Harry Kane and Erling Haaland were banned for being "irresponsible", the UK's advertizing watchdog says.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads, which were for an online betting site, breached their codification due to the fact that Kane and Haaland had a "strong entreaty to under-18s".

Oddschecker, which posted the images, said they were "primarily editorial successful nature, alternatively than ads" and that it had acceptable the relationship to 18-plus.

However, the ASA said that determination was "at slightest a important fig of children who had not utilized their existent day of commencement erstwhile signing up" to Instagram.

The ASA investigated the adverts successful question, from November, aft a ailment from a researcher astatine Bristol University.

One showed a representation of Kane with the caption: "Harry Kane is the astir backed subordinate to triumph the Ballon d'Or successful 2026 (32% of bets)," with a trophy emoji.

The different showed Haaland and was captioned: "In the past 24 hours, Norway to triumph the 2026 World Cup is the most-backed stake placed done oddschecker."

Cyan Blue Odds Ltd, trading arsenic Oddschecker, said it recognised featuring apical footballers could entreaty to children, and had acceptable the relationship truthful lone over-18s could spot it.

It argued the posts were not advertizing but much wide "editorial" content, which was wherefore determination was nary property disclaimer oregon connection promoting liable gambling.

The ASA dismissed the defence, considering Kane and Haaland "to beryllium a precocious hazard of beardown entreaty to under-18s".

It added: "For those reasons, we concluded the ads were irresponsible and breached the code."

The ASA separately recovered different Instagram advertisement featuring a footballer did not interruption its rules.

The advert for Betway featured a representation of ex-Arsenal guardant and present pundit Thierry Henry, but the ASA said helium was improbable to entreaty powerfully to under-18s and truthful did not spell against its code.