Sunday Sport ordered to cover up back page smut

It is fair to say that many people turn to the back pages of a newspaper first – especially sports fans – but Sunday Sport readers’ who have traditionally gone to the rear for sexually explicit chat line ads could now suffer a big let-down following a ruling by the ad watchdog.
The issue has been sparked by a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority lodged by campaign group Not Buying It over two ads for services provided by Luv2Chat, a company which is based in the leafy West Sussex town of Arundel.
The first ad appeared on an inside page of the paper and featured several images of naked and partially naked women in sexualised poses with their breasts visible. The images were accompanied by phrases such as “They’re Huge! Shoot Your Load on my Massive Tits!!” and “Filthy Old Pensioner! Give Quick 30 Second Relief”.
The second ad appeared on the back page of the paper and featured several images of women, who appeared to be removing their clothing, with their breasts partially visible. The images were accompanied by phrases such as “XXX Sex Stories” and “Filthy Sex Chat with Hot TGirls!”
Not Buying It, which is running petitions against the Daily Sport and its advertising on its website, complained to the ASA that the ads could be seen by children and challenged whether they had been placed irresponsibily.
However, the publisher of the Sunday Sport, Worldwide Digital Media, argued that the newspaper was clearly targeted at adults and it had run similar ads before and had received no complaints.
It also insisted that to “prohibit the ads from being placed in the newspaper, would be highly selective and restrictive, and would amount to censorship on the UK’s free press”.
The ASA, however, had a different take on the situation. While it cleared the ads which had appeared inside the paper, it ruled that the sexually explicit ads on the back page could be seen by children “if the paper was left in public places or around the house”.
It added: “We also understood that the Sunday Sport was usually displayed in retail stores alongside other newspapers in a readily visible position (as opposed to appearing on the top shelf), and therefore the back page was more likely to be seen inadvertently by children.”
Whether this means that the Sunday Sport will now dedicate its back pages to Jose Mourhino and Pep Guardiola instead of “Quick 30 Second Relief” remains to be seen.