FANS watching the England and Wales matches during the group stages of Euro 2016 saw alcohol marketing almost once a minute during game play, a charity has said.
While French laws on alcohol advertising ban alcohol sponsorship of sporting events and alcohol advertising on television, Euro 2016 sponsor Carlsberg replaced their brand name on pitch-side digital boards with one of their well-known slogans, in the brand font, Alcohol Concern said.
Over the five group games played by England and Wales - including the game between them which ended with a 2-1 victory for England - these slogans were seen 392 times, the charity said.
This equates an average of 78.4 per game, or once every 72 seconds, it added.
Tom Smith, director of campaigns at Alcohol Concern, said: "The volume of alcohol marketing in sport, especially in football, which is popular with children and younger people, is enormous. We already know from our previous research that half of children associate leading beers with football.
"Alcohol marketing drives consumption, particularly in under-18s and sport should be something which inspires active participation and good health, not more drinking.
"We need to protect the younger generation, which is why the government needs to implement the phased removal of alcohol marketing from sport, as it has done with tobacco."
A spokesman for Carlsberg said: "We take great care that the vast majority of viewers of our marketing are above legal drinking age.
"Our internal and industry codes clearly stipulate that our marketing communication are designed to prevent any primarily underage appeal.
"Through these codes, we have set very clear and concise standards for what we do and do not accept in our advertising, and we always engage in constructive dialogue with regulatory and self-regulatory bodies to ensure responsible and respectful marketing communication."
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