BBC Sport ‏@BBCSport 1h Papiss Cisse pulls out of Newcastle's pre-season tour to Portugal after refusing to wear the club's "Wonga" logo on religious grounds #NUFC No chance he'd come to us then, shame
He'd already said he wouldn't play for them with Wonga on the shirt, so really the story is just that he's sticking to his word.
Here's the article on BBC Sport: Papiss Cisse has pulled out of Newcastle's pre-season tour to Portugal after refusing to wear club sponsor Wonga's logo on religious grounds. The Senegal striker, a Muslim, told club officials he was not prepared to promote the money-lending company. But the 28-year-old did offer to wear an unbranded shirt or one bearing a charity logo instead. It leaves Cisse's future in doubt, with sources describing the relationship between the parties as "strained". The Newcastle forward and his representatives have been in talks with club officials and the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) in recent days but neither the club nor their shirt sponsor have been able to find a solution. Cisse's Newcastle team-mates Cheick Tiote and Moussa Sissoko are also Muslim, but have told the club they have no issue with wearing the sponsor's logo. Cisse will continue to train on his own as he attempts to catch up on his fitness after returning later than the majority of the squad following international duty with Senegal. Both camps are hopeful that a solution can be found, but it seems Cisse is not prepared to move on his position. In October, high-interest pay-day lender Wonga was announced as the company to take over from Virgin Money as Newcastle's shirt sponsor from the 2013-14 season. It is thought the contract is worth around £8m a year to the club. Speaking in June, PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes told BBC Sport: "We're all aware that clubs need to generate revenue and sometimes have to use a wide range of companies. "However, if someone feels very, very strongly that it's not compatible with their beliefs, then some sort of solution should be found." Well, that's Newcastle buggered in the striker department atm. Lucky for them it's only the middle of July. If it was deadline day, they'd be utterly ****ed.
Its a day for it - the Napoli owner has tweeted they have a transfer budget of 124.5million euros. Now is it me or is it a bit silly to reveal that publicly?
Jon Barbuti ‏@jonbarbuti Papiss Cisse fined for refusing to wear club sponsor Wonga - initial £5,000 rising to £47,987,567,324 if he hasn't paid by Friday #NUFC
Yes everyone knew that, but they didnt know that all the money would go into a transfer pot along with an existing kitty of 60m euros. I suspect all their targets just went up by 5m euros.
Haha, no worries, didn't mean to sound like I was having a go, was still worth an article, there's fack all else happening.
They have talked him round and he has relented and said that when he pulls on the shirt, he will now give 2462% every game.
This has been on going for weeks. He has issues with all pay day loan companies and not just "Wonga". Looks like he will be sold. I wonder if Villa and Newcastle will do a straight swap though ? Bent for Cisse. Job done.
Good to see someone sticking to their principles unless it's just a way of getting away from Kinnear!
It's a bit of an odd stance though, given their previous sponsor, Virgin Money, who include money-lending in their portfolio.
That's what the Toon fans suspect, after all he is playing in the Barclays Premier League and played with Virgin Money on his shirt before.
I always believed only usurious loans were against Islamic law. Now, how you define usury is another matter.....
