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Newcastle United happy to continue with Wonga despite illegal practices

9 years ago
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Newcastle United have confirmed that they are committed to continuing their relationship with club sponsor Wonga.

The legal loan sharks have recently been forced to pay back millions of pounds that they overcharged customers, admitted sending letters to customers pretending to be from law firms that didn’t exist.

With the authorities cracking down on Wonga and similar companies, the lenders have also now accepted that they loaned money to thousands and thousands of people that they shouldn’t have, meaning that they are having to write off millions of pounds.

Despite all of this, and the fact that many fans of Newcastle United will have been victims of the club sponsor’s underhand practices, Mike Ashley has refused to accept that this is a company that should have no association with a club like Newcastle United.

At the Fans Forum meeting on Monday night, supporter representative Taylor Payne asked the following;

“Is the club reviewing its relationship with Wonga given ‘illegal practices involving the company as revealed by the press’?”

The official NUFC response;

The club stated that it was not considering terminating its sponsorship relationship with Wonga, which lasts for two seasons beyond the current season. In relation to Newcastle United, the club’s view is that Wonga has activated its sponsorship well and has worked with fans far more than any other previous sponsor.

Another fan rep Liam Hall asking this follow up question;

 “If the deal ends in two years’ time, would the stadium naming rights be resold?”

The club stated that the stadium naming rights had been bought by Wonga and effectively given back to the club as part of Wonga’s sponsorship deal but that the club has not considered and is not considering it at present.

Exactly how this bizarre shirt/stadium sponsorship deal was constructed and for what reasons, surely Newcastle United could have done far far better. Both in terms of actual cash and just as, or perhaps more, importantly the good name of our football club.

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