Papiss Demba Cisse and Newcastle United have reached an agreement which will see the Senegalese international striker wear the controversial Wonga logo on the shirt next season despite his religious beliefs against money lending organizations.
Cisse, who is a practicing Muslim like many other players in the Magpies lineup, pulled out of the club’s pre-season training program after informing the club he was not ready to promote a money lending organization. However, with talks between the player and the club going on for over a week, it seems that there has been a resolution and the Senegalese striker is satisfied enough to be available for selection again.
The 28 year old has already been told to return to training with the first team after being told to train on his own as the club jetted off for their pre-season friendly matches. Cisse was not the only player in the Newcastle United team to object to the club’s new sponsors and although he took so long to come round and agree to play for the club with logo on their shirt, the likes of Chieck Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa have already accepted the club’s stance on their new shirt sponsors.
The new sponsorship deal between the club and Wonga was announced last October with the high interest pay day loan company taking over the shirt sponsorship of the Magpies from Virgin Money for a reported £ 8 million a year.
PFA chief Bobby Barnes had sided with Newcastle United in June regarding the issue, admitting the clubs needed to find new ways of generating revenue and he didn’t see anything wrong with them signing with Wonga and now, Cisse has also accepted the stance with the club with having reached a solution with the club after a week of negotiations.