ITV Faces Criticism From Care Chief on Gambling Ads Display

Leading international charity organization working for social justice promotion, CARE or Christian Action Research and Education has condemned ITV for not restraining the telecast of gambling adverts during the Euro 2020 football tournament. A letter has been sent by the CARE chief executive, Nola Leach, to ITV chairperson Sir Peter Bazalgette and channel’s chief executive Carolyn McCall highlighting the issue. The strategic news has garnered a lot of attention from the industry and fans looking forward to the event post the COVID-19 pandemic fiasco.

As per the report, the letter was sent to the chief executive and chairman of ITV before opening the football extravaganza slated for a launch this Friday. In response to this, the ITV team stated that the team has decided to reduce gambling-related advertisements on the channel. However, the officials have signaled that ITV has not taken crucial steps to regulate the display of the advertisements on the portal. The team has reduced the frequency of adverts in comparison to the 2018 World Cup. 

The decision comes in response to the gambling cluster’s whistle-to-whistle restriction on adverts displayed during live sports tournaments telecasted before the 9 PM slot. The ads will be shown during the telecast of the football match for a period that comes over five minutes before kick-off or five minutes after the final whistle of the event. Back in 2018, WC, gamblers helpline portal GamCare witnessed a surge of 5% in calls from gamblers and a 15% rise from people affected by the habits of other addicts.  

Citing her discomfort, the CARE chief stated that she is upset with ITV’s decision not to reduce the adverts shown during the tournament. The spearhead has advised the channel to reconsider its decision to protect the viewers from getting attracted to gambling. The ITV team has revealed that the live shows will have 2 PM or 5 PM kick-offs with no ads displayed under the whistle-to-whistle ban. The GamCare hub has collaborated with ex-footballer Karen Carney for the TalkBanStop campaign to spread awareness about gambling functions.