The Football Association have terminated a four year contract with Ladbrokes over concerns about the threat from gambling within the sport.
All football players and officials are banned from betting on football with Joey Barton recently banned for 18 after being caught out betting on football matches.
Announcing the decision to cut the Ladbrokes deal Martin Glenn, chief executive of The FA, said: “We would like to thank Ladbrokes for both being a valued partner over the last year and for their professionalism and understanding about our change of policy around gambling.”
Ladbrokes were paying £4m/year to be the official bookmaking partner although there was no specific competition linked to the deal.
All associations with bookmakers have been terminated by the FA although a large number of clubs have shirt sponsorship deals with bookmakers.
The stance by the FA is at complete odds with the Scottish Football Association who have all three major competitions sponsored by bookmakers.
Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfred have all set up deals within the last 18 months with both Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan going on record to thank those companies for their support of the game despite a number of players and recently a club director being punished for betting on football matches.