• The FA have strict rules on players and managers appearing in betting adverts.
• Gambling has become a serious issue in Kenya, particularly among younger people.
Image: DAILYMAIL
In Mbagathi Way, Nairobi, Kenyans sauntered past a huge billboard last weekend promising a 200 per cent bonus for an introductory wager for a prestigious betting company.
And smiling out of the poster is England captain Harry Kane. Alongside him is Kenya captain Victor Wanyama and fellow Spurs team-mates Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld. And alongside the logo of the company, 1XBET, sits the historic logo of Tottenham Hotspur.
Underneath the words ‘African betting partner’ underscore the official nature of this endorsement, in a country where the surge in gambling among young people has caused a government minister to link betting to youth suicides.
As such, it may seem incongruous to see the England captain featuring in a betting advert, not least for 1XBET, a company which has its licence suspended in Kenya.
After all, only this week the Football Association charged Everton’s Yerry Mina with a breach of regulations for appearing in a betting advert in Colombia.
The FA has strict rules on players and managers appearing in betting ads: it’s banned if it’s a personal deal.
However, there is a loophole. If the club has a deal with a betting company, they can use the images of players in adverts. So what’s wrong for the players as individuals, is not wrong for the clubs. Mina could have been used by Everton in a gambling ad and that would be fine. It was the fact that he struck his own deal that is wrong.
It seems an anomaly. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson sees it as such.
“Rules about gambling sponsorship deals need to be consistent for clubs and individual players,” he said. “Given the levels of gambling addiction in the UK and Kenya, it’s time to make rules about gambling adverts and sponsorships much tighter. Fans are bombarded with gambling ads and it’s not right.”
The players themselves have little control over these ads. They sign up to a certain amount of commercial activity when they agree their club contracts. The deals usually mean that their image can be used alongside club sponsors, but usually it would have to be with a group of players rather than individually, as is the case in the 1XBET advert. Kane’s spokesman declined to comment extensively other than to point out that it is a club issue.
For it is the clubs that sign up to the deals. Tottenham are not the only ones. Every Premier League club has some kind of betting partner and 10 have gambling firms as shirt sponsors.
The FA are beginning to crack down. Their rules have been re-written to make it clear that even when promoting a club partnership, no individual can appear in a video or audio clip promoting gambling. However, static imagery of players on adverts is still fine. Watson would go further, with Labour proposing to ban all shirt sponsorships from gambling firms and all TV adverts.
But it is the link-up with African betting firms which has become controversial. Liverpool and Chelsea recently announced global partnerships with 1XBET. Everton and Championship side Hull are sponsored by SportPesa, one of the biggest players in Kenyan gambling.
Kenya is the biggest, most-developed market for African gambling due to its digitalisation and a mobile currency known as M-Pesa. And the concern about addiction among young people means the government is in dispute with almost all the gambling firms, primarily over tax issues, hence 1XBET has its licence suspended.
Fred Matiang’i, the Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary, told the Daily Nation newspaper: “We cannot be a gambling nation. Many youths end up frustrated when they fail in gambling and end up committing suicide. The number of cases is worryingly high. Rogue behaviour in the betting and lotteries industry is endangering the lives of our young people. This clean-up has just started and we will carry it through no matter what it takes because young Kenyan lives are worth saving.”
Nelson Bwire, who has just graduated from university, has become a campaigner for stricter controls on the industry after himself being drawn into addiction, setting up the Gaming Awareness Society of Kenya. He said: “In Kenya gambling is rampant and it has grown in a short spell of time. It has come from something which was unknown to something which is now in everybody’s household.”
“In Kenya, most celebrities are hired to promote gambling. That is what has made it become this big. When you see celebrities associated with gambling you find they are successful people and endorsing this product.”
“And it creates the impression that I should do it. I want to be like Harry Kane. Harry Kane is a 1XBET hero. Harry Kane is very well known and the Premier League is the most-watched football competition. Tottenham, being one of the top teams, it also attracts a lot of fans and a lot of attention.”
Only adults can use digital money in Kenya so, in theory, children can’t bet. And while 1XBET did not respond to a chance to comment, they have broken no rules and there is every likelihood their licence will be renewed. Their advert has a reminder that it is illegal for under-18s to bet. SportPesa has made it clear that it is socially responsible and compliant with the law.
Tottenham said they will be seeking reassurances from 1XBET. A spokesperson said: “We have made contact with our partners to express our concerns and seek assurances that they continue to operate within the parameters of their gaming licence locally and that marketing and advertising includes appropriate messaging that reminds people of the age restrictions and encourages people to gamble responsibly.”
“Our partners have responded to inform us that they are conducting an investigation to establish the facts and will be attending a meeting with the club’s management.”
However, that won’t stop many questioning the wisdom of so many Premier League clubs attaching their name to an industry attracting so much negative attention in Africa. And while the England captain appears on billboards advertising betting all over Kenya, it won’t stop politicians pointing out the inconsistency of the FA rulebook.