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Why are Chelsea still wearing the Three logo on their shirts?

Chelsea
(Image credit: Getty)

Chelsea were rocked last week by the British government's sanctions against Roman Abramovich due to his ties to Vladimir Putin.

The sanctions prevented Chelsea from selling tickets or merchandise and halted the Russian's planned sale of the club.

And later that day mobile phone company Three, which has sponsored the club's shirts since 2020, announced it was ending its deal with immediate effect.

But in Sunday's game at home to Newcastle, Chelsea continued to display the logo on their shirts.

The report also speculated that Chelsea could be struggling to purchase new kits due to the impact of the sanction, which included the club's credit cards being frozen by Barclays.

In 2008 West Ham United's shirt sponsor XL Airlines went bust, leading the club to strip the logo from their kits for the remainder of the campaign, with players displaying their shirt numbers in place of the logo.

West Ham's kit manufacturers also had to think fast last week when they played away to Sevilla in the Europa League as betting sponsorship is now banned in Spain, meaning they were prohibited from displaying the logo of main sponsors Betway.

David Moyes' side took to the Sanchez Pizjuan pitch wearing a plain kit during the 1-0 defeat in the first leg.

Richard Martin is an experienced football writer, editor and social media producer. Before returning to London, he spent 10 years in Spain as a football correspondent and has attended over 600 games across 16 countries, his favourite being Argentina. He has also worked for Reuters, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Times and AS.