When Sponsorship And Personal Beliefs Clash

Earlier today, The London Independent ran an article claiming that many of Newcastle United's stars might not be able to wear their jerseys with new sponsors next season due to their religious beliefs.

Newcastle United's £24m shirt sponsorship deal with Wonga was engulfed in fresh controversy last night when the club's Muslim players were warned that wearing the new shirts would infringe Sharia law.

The intervention from the Muslim Council of Britain will heap further pressure on the club as it seeks to deflect widespread criticism after unveiling a four-year deal with the short-term loan company.

Of the Newcastle team who took the field against Manchester United on Sunday, four are practising Muslims – Demba Ba, Papiss Cissé, Cheick Tioté and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Plenty of players in different sports have refused to wear the same kit as their teammates before. Here are our top 3:

1) Hashim Amla: The South African cricketer refused to wear the South African test kit when he was making his debut in 2004 due to his religious beliefs. The practising Muslim refused to wear the kit as it was sponsored by Castle Lager. Eventually a compromise was reached and Amla now wears the kit without the sponsor.

2) Johan Cruyff: At the 1974 World Cup, the Dutch legend refused to wear his teams adidas kit as he already had a personal endorsement deal with their German rivals Puma. Cruyff wore a modified jersey for the tournament which had two lines on the arm, instead of the famous three lines on the rest of the squads jerseys.

3) Frederic Kanoute: When the Mali international left Tottenham to join Sevilla in 2005 he initially refused to wear the jersey with club sponsor 888.com due to his religious beliefs. Eventually a deal was reached where Kanoute wore the branded shirt but was excused from the companies promotional work.