Cisse may refuse to wear Newcastle shirt with controversial sponsor logo

Newcastle No.9, Papiss Cisse may refuse to wear a Newcastle shirt carrying the name of controversial new sponsors Wonga.

The Senegal star has informed the Magpies of his objections, on religious and ethical grounds, to advertising the pay-day loan company while playing for them.

Star striker Cisse, a practising Muslim, is against helping promote Wonga, who have attracted criticism for charging sky-high interest rates that allegedly target the poor. Sharia law states that Muslims are not allowed to benefit from lending or receiving money from other person. His team-mates Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa may also refuse to wear the shirt with Wonga’s logo on it.

Newcastle have confirmed that they will meet with Cisse to discuss the issue and try and find a compromise.

An easy way out for Newcastle would be to do what Sevilla did with Freddie Kanoute. Former Tottenham striker Freddie Kanoute was allowed to allowed to wear an unbranded shirt after he refused to wear the logo of 888.com gambling website on religious grounds during his time at Sevilla.

Earlier this week, Bolton Wanderers dropped the plans of being sponsored by another pay-day loan company QuickQuid after protests by fans.