2-1 to the ASA as bookies are probed for targeting kids

Betting firms that use footballers to promote their services have been hauled up by the Advertising Standards Authority once more although, much like in the Premier League, the resulting rulings are open to debate.

First up, two ads for Oddschecker. One showed a picture of Harry 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 Erling Haaland and was captioned: “In the last 24 hours, Norway to win the 2026 World Cup is the most-backed bet placed through oddschecker.”

The ASA launched an investigation after a complaint from a researcher at Bristol University.

In its defence, Oddschecker said the posts were “primarily editorial in nature, rather than ads”, which was why there was no age disclaimer or message promoting responsible gambling. However, it did recognise that featuring top footballers could appeal to children, and had set the account so only over-18s could see it.

Even so, the ASA maintained that there was “at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up” to Instagram. It 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.”

However, separately the ASA found another Instagram ad for Betway, featuring ex-Arsenal forward and now pundit Thierry Henry did not break its rules.

The decision was based on many factors, including Henry’s public profile, his age, his status as a retired footballer and his role as a pundit.

The ASA said: “For those reasons, we concluded that the ad was not of strong appeal to people aged under 18.”

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