Instagram betting ads featuring Kane and Haaland banned

["The UK's advertising watchdog has banned two Instagram ads featuring football stars Harry Kane and Erling Haaland for being 'irresponsible'. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the ads, which were for an online betting site, breached their code because Kane and Haaland had a 'strong appeal to under-18s'.", "The ads in question were posted by Oddschecker, which argued that they were 'primarily editorial in nature, rather than ads' and that it had set the account to 18-plus. However, the ASA found that 'at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up' to Instagram, rendering the age restriction ineffective.", "One ad 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.' The ASA investigated the ads after a complaint from a researcher at Bristol University.", "Cyan Blue Odds Ltd, trading as Oddschecker, defended the ads, saying they recognised featuring top footballers could appeal to children, but had set the account so only over-18s could see it. However, the ASA dismissed this defence, considering Kane and Haaland 'to be a high risk of strong appeal to under-18s'. The ASA concluded that 'for those reasons, we concluded the ads were irresponsible and breached the code.'", 'In a separate ruling, the ASA found that another Instagram ad featuring a footballer did not break its rules.

The ad 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.']