Imran Rahman-JonesTechnology reporter
PA Media
Two adverts on Instagram which featured football stars Harry Kane and Erling Haaland were banned for being "irresponsible", the UK's advertising watchdog says.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads, which were for an online betting site, breached their code because Kane and Haaland had a "strong appeal to under-18s".
Oddschecker, which posted the images, said they were "primarily editorial in nature, rather than ads" and that it had set the account to 18-plus.
However, the ASA said that there was "at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up" to Instagram.
The ASA investigated the adverts in question, from November, after a complaint from a researcher at Bristol University.
One 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."
Cyan Blue Odds Ltd, trading as Oddschecker, said it recognised featuring top footballers could appeal to children, and had set the account so only over-18s could see it.
It argued the posts were not advertising but more general "editorial" content, which was why there was no age disclaimer or message promoting responsible gambling.
The ASA 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."
The ASA separately found another Instagram ad featuring a footballer did not break its rules.
The advert 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.
