ASTON VILLA have inked a controversial sponsorship deal with a betting company criticised for sexualised adverts.
The Midlands club, according to The Telegraph, have penned a three-year deal with online casino BK8 – who are expected to be their main shirt sponsor next season.
But they’re already facing backlash over BK8’s advertising history.
The bookie drew the ire of Norwich City fans in the summer of 2021 when they sponsored the Championship club with a series of sexually explicit adverts which were likened to “soft porn”.
Norwich parted company with the Malaysian betting firm after fans complained about their marketing on YouTube, which, it was claimed, featured “simulated sex acts with a sausage.”
Before severing their ties with BK8, Norwich insisted the ads didn’t “align with the wider vision and values” of the club.
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Villa have yet to offer any comment on their reported partnership with BK8, who have also recently teamed up with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Huddersfield.
The Villans will be back in action on Friday night, welcoming Leeds United to Elland Road.
They go into the match on the back of an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two side Stevenage.
Manager Unai Emery raged: “I am not a magician to come here and change everything.
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“Now it’s fantastic, we got 10 points from 15 available but the last match we played against Wolves I was very, very upset because I was like, ‘Hey, we are starting so quickly again…not doing the tactical or individual demands I want to put out’.
“And today it was different, completely different.
“Today we lost and we were totally disappointed.
“We can be so sorry for our supporters but this can happen when you have chances and don’t score.
“We weren’t clinical. This is not for tactically because we weren’t really focused in 90 minutes.
“No, it was because it can happen when you have chances and moments and you didn’t do it.”
SunSport have reached out to Aston Villa for comment.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
