For a while recently, it seemed you couldn’t avoid Brendon McCullum talking to you.
Now, the England men’s test cricket coach and former New Zealand captain doesn’t seem willing to discuss the controversial gambling ad campaign he’s featured in.
McCullum hasn’t responded to requests to discuss the ad, which Google has reportedly pulled from YouTube for violating their policies.
The advertisement by overseas bookmaker 22Bet had raised the ire of both the TAB and the Problem Gambling Foundation.
READ MORE:
* NRL ask Bulldogs staffer Willie Mason to explain betting agency link
* Google pulls YouTube ads for overseas betting company 22Bet featuring Brendon McCullum
* Department of Internal Affairs says 22Bet Brendon McCullum ads ‘misleading’
A request to the England and Wales Cricket Board head of team communications to discuss the role of their test coach’s involvement has also gone unanswered. Among the questions for McCullum’s employer was: did it give the OK for him to appear in the ads, and what is its stance on its players or staff endorsing betting companies?
The advertisements appeared so often for New Zealand users of YouTube – through multiple advertiser accounts – they attracted complaints. This included angry posts on the Facebook page of McCullum. Among the complaints posted online was Michael Nolan: “Never had such an annoying ad. I’m getting bombarded by them in every corner of the internet.”
Stuff
22bet adverts featuring Brendon McCullum.
The TAB said the advertisements used “dubious tactics to recruit punters”.
McCullum is described as an official ambassador for 22Bet India in the gambling company’s promotional material. Fellow 22Bet ambassadors include former Arsenal and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor (Africa) and former Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar (Latin America).
McCullum tweeted to his 500,000-plus followers in January promoting 22Bet, but it has since been deleted. A post on his Facebook page remains.
The ex-Black Caps captain became hugely popular in India while starring in the Indian Premier League – he made a blazing 158 in the inaugural game of the competition in 2008 – and after 109 matches over a decade before coaching the Kolkata Knight Riders side.
The 41-year-old was a surprise appointment as head coach of the England test side in May last year and quickly transformed the fortunes of the side.
TOM LEE/STUFF
Former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum is in New Zealand for the first time as England’s test coach.
England and New Zealand drew their test series here over summer 1-1 and McCullum made some headlines in England recently when he missed the opening of the county cricket championship season when playing club rugby for United Matamata Sports in a Premier B division of the Waikato Rugby Union Championship.
Less than a week after Stuff’s story on the ads for the Cyprus-based website, Google told 1News the ads had been removed from YouTube.
“Google has strict policies that govern the kind of ads we allow on our platform. In this instance, we’ve found the ads that violate our policies and we have removed them,” a Google spokesperson told 1News.
It said it allowed gambling ads only if they complied with its policies and the advertiser was a state-licensed entity in New Zealand.
The Problem Gambling Foundation complained about the advertisements to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which regulates gambling.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
England test coach Brendon McCullum, right, talks to captain Ben Stokes during a training session at the Basin Reserve in Wellington in February.
Foundation spokesperson Andree Froude said the Gambling Act banned overseas companies from advertising gambling services to New Zealanders.
A DIA spokesperson told Stuff last week the 22Bet ads were misleading as “they are not a registered New Zealand sports bookmaker, nor are they licensed or regulated in New Zealand by the DIA.”
“We are currently looking at avenues we can pursue, including contacting 22Bet advising them to change their misleading marketing and advertising which insinuates in any way that they are a New Zealand-based gambling operator,” the DIA spokesperson said.
In Australia this week, the Bulldogs say they have complied with a NRL request for more information about Willie Mason’s role at the club amid a probe into his relationship with Australia’s TAB betting agency.
Mason – man of the match alongside Sonny Bill Williams in the Bulldogs’ last NRL grand final win in 2004 – is back on the western Sydney club’s payroll.
The Auckland-born 42-year-old’s social media profiles says he is a coach and ambassador for the Bulldogs and also an ambassador for the TAB.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that the NRL had issued Mason, a former NSW State of Origin star and Australian international, with a please explain notice.