It wasn’t long ago that the football fanatics around the globe, were tuning in to watch their national team perform on the football pitches across Russia, but it’s not the FIFA 2018 Russian World Cup that’s currently in the spotlight…
…The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) is currently examining numerous complaints regarding the World Cup adverts by global gambling companies: William Hill, Coral and Bet365. But why?
ASA received a total of 115 complaints from viewers during the four weeks of the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia, due to the number of gambling ads that appeared. Over the whole month of the football tournament, gambling adverts added up to almost 90 minutes!
The people who lodged the complaints, felt that the companies were totally irresponsible for running these ads, where a vast number of children were watching. A handful of complaints also pertain to last minute ‘bet now’ offers, which would encourage people to act quickly to take advantage of the betting odds displayed. The ASA is currently assessing the complaints to see if there are grounds to launch a formal investigation.
A spokesperson for ASA said:
“The majority of the complaints we have received during the World Cup are about the amount/volume of gambling ads that appear as well as concerns that betting and gaming ads should not be scheduled around programmes when children are watching. Viewers find this irresponsible and inappropriate. There are other complaints about misleading terms and conditions. The reference to the time sensitivity of odds may be interpreted as a call to act. The promotion of these odds in this format draws strong similarities with the message to ‘bet in play, now’, which is discouraged in guidance on gambling advertising [relating to] responsibility and problem gambling.”
Gambling advertisements in the UK are only permitted during the day, if they are part of a live sports event, but with World Cup matches were being aired afternoons and evenings, it led to numerous gambling ads being aired before the 9pm watershed, which exposed vulnerable children. The ASA spokesperson also added…
“Under the current scheduling rules, gambling ads cannot appear on dedicated children’s channels or in and around programmes principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to them. World Cup games do not fall under that definition.”
