West Ham United forced to change kit v FCSB due to UEFA rule
West Ham United were forced to remove their shirt sponsor Betway from their kit when they played FCSB on Thursday (3 November), according to Six Foot Two.
The third kit was worn with no sponsor at all on the front as the Irons won 3-0 in Bucharest and there had been some speculation as to why that was the case.
Some suggested that it was because Ollie Scarles, who started the game in what was his debut, is only 16 years of age but that would have only affected him.
Others suggested that it may have been a ban on gambling sponsors in Romania but the home side wore their sponsor, another betting company, and advertised them around the stadium.
In actual fact, Six Foot Two believes that because Betway are not a company that can be used in Romania, where FCSB play their games, they could not play with the logo on their shirts.
Pointless
As UEFA regulations go, this might be one of the most useless ones they have come up with and it may have harmed the money coming into West Ham as a result.
Playing on the European stage will have been a very big attraction to Betway when the deal to sponsor the club’s shorts was negotiated so to have their emblem struck off the shirts for such a petty reason is bewildering.
They aren’t there to widen the Romanian network but to entice the viewing public on television so it is unfair on them to take them out of the limelight.
Whether you agree with betting sponsors or not, clubs should not be forced to make such drastic changes for a one-off game.
West Ham don’t require European clubs to remove their sponsors from their shirts on the basis that they aren’t a British company so the fact they have had to do so just seems very contradictory.