Everton pull plug on shirt deal with betting firm

EVERTON will embark on a search for a blue- chip shirt sponsor after severing their current deal with gambling firm SportPesa.

The Goodison Park club had two years to run on their terms with SportPesa, who are based in Africa, but after negotiations involving both parties, a decision has been made to cancel the £9.6million-a-year agreement at the end of this season.

It is understood Everton do not have to pay a financial penalty for terminating the partnership and that negotiations were amicable with SportPesa, who first had their name on Everton shirts in 2017.

Everton insist the decision has not primarily been influenced by the clamour for football to distance itself from betting but it was taken into account.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, the chief executive, and finance officer Alexander Ryazantsev will lead the search for a new partnership and the ambition will be to secure a club-record deal ahead of the start of the 2020-21 season.

An Everton spokesperson said: ‘This has been a difficult decision but one that allows us to best deliver on our commercial plan and to grasp the new opportunities now open to us.’

Andre Gomes, meanwhile, took a significant step towards returning to first-team football after playing a 60-minute game behind closed doors at Finch Farm yesterday.

It was always the plan for the Portugal midfielder, who suffered an horrific ankle fracture at Goodison Park against Tottenham in early November, to play the full match.

He came through without issue and will now be able to train with the squad ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.