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The European Football Championship have been 'tainted' by gambling giants' adverts which are 'grooming' children to bet, MPs and peers have said.
Gambling companies have tried to entice fans to visit their sites, flooding social media and television with adverts.
ITV's viewing figures for England's semi-final topped 27 million, including millions of children, making it the most-watched football match ever for a single channel, while 31 million saw Sunday's final across BBC and ITV.
But young fans were 'bombarded' with TV adverts for brands including Ladbrokes, William Hill and SkyBet, MPs said.
Gambling companies have tried to entice fans to visit their sites, flooding social media and television with adverts. Pictured: Paddy Power advert
During ITV coverage of the England versus Denmark semi-final fans were subjected to eight adverts, while in the games against Scotland and the Czech Republic viewers were hit with seven and eight gambling commercials respectively.
And in the final against Italy, fans watched three adverts during the pre-match build-up.
All four matches included adverts before the 9pm watershed when content that is 'unsuitable or harmful' should not be shown, according to Ofcom rules.
Three of the BBC's favoured football pundits also appeared in the commercials. Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Savage appeared in William Hill's 'Sweet Caroline' advert and Peter Crouch was in Paddy Power's. Adverts for other firms featured footballing stars Harry Redknapp, Michael Owen,
