Celtic impressed with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Atalanta in Italy last night (Wednesday), with a brave display that better reflected the standards Brendan Rodgers seeks in Europe.
With the Parkhead side now sitting 20th out of 36 in the new-format UEFA Champions League with five games remaining, the football on display wasn't the only familiar sight on a foreign pitch – the sponsor on the front of the Celtic shirt was once again The Celtic FC Foundation.
As has become the norm away from home in European competition over the last several years, the club's default sponsor – betting agency Dafabet – was dropped in favour of the club's charitable arm. But why is this the case?
Simply, betting sponsors are banned in certain countries – including Italy, where Celtic played last night.
With the ban having been introduced in 2019, the yellow and green away kit Celtic wore when overcoming Lazio in the UEFA Europa League that same year was given the same treatment.
With the same ban introduced in Spain in 2021, Celtic adopted the same strategy against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on recent trips.
England is set to roll out the same ban in 2026, however Scotland as yet has no such plans.
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Similar bans apply in other European countries in relation to alcohol brand sponsors, which once saw Celtic's previous sponsor, Tennent's Lager, switched out for Tipperary Mineral Water.
Both owned by Irish multinational company C&C Group, the Hoops swapped from Tennent's to Tipperary in 2013, which looked like this:
A well deserved point with the Bhoys sporting the Foundation crest on their jerseys in Italy! 👏👕 Huge thanks again to @Dafabet for their continued support of the Foundation 💚 pic.twitter.com/FK3PHUHALJ
— Celtic FC Foundation (@FoundationCFC) October 23, 2024
