Premier League footballers and other high-profile sporting figures have been banned from appearing in gambling adverts in Britain under new rules aimed at protecting children and other vulnerable groups.
The regulator responsible for Britain’s advertising code, the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP), has announced the changes, which would prevent Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, Michael Owen and Harry Redknapp from appearing in such adverts.
The new rules, which will come into force in October, will apply to all well-known child sportspeople, stars of reality TV shows popular with under-18s, such as Love Island, and other celebrities.
They also include a ban on showing specific teams’ football kits and stadiums in advertisements, as well as using video game content and gameplay popular with under-18s.
Under current rules, an advertisement is only prohibited if it is likely to appeal more to an under-18 than an adult, but the changes will apply to those advertisements “likely to be of significant interest to children or young people, in particular by reflecting or being associated with youth culture”.
Shahriar Coupal, Director of CAP, said: “The days of gambling advertisements featuring sports stars, video game images and other highly engaging content for under 18s are numbered.
“By ending these practices, our new rules invite a new era for gambling ads, more specific to the adult audience they can target and more tailored to the age-restricted product they can target. are promoting. »
Footballers and other ‘participants’ in the game in England are already banned from advertising gambling related to betting on matches, transfers, managerial appointments, team selection or questions disciplinary under Football Association rules which also prevent them from placing such bets.
Last week, a group of 20 English Football League and non-League clubs wrote to the government urging it to move forward with the ban on game sponsors on shirts.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposals to shake up the industry are due after Easter, with a draft finalized by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport with Downing Street for approval.
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