FA Cup set to be sponsored by electronics giant LG after £4m-a-year with Ladbrokes deal was terminated

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The FA are set to sign new, blue-chip sponsorship for England and the FA Cup to replace the ditched gambling-sector contract with Ladbrokes.

Korean electronics giant LG, who have numerous sports sponsorship tie-ups around the globe, are understood to be close to agreeing a deal with the FA for around the £4million-a-year that Ladbrokes were paying.

It will be a relief for the FA to attract a proven sponsor in what is a crowded market with plenty of competition from other sports offering title opportunities.

The FA Cup is set to be sponsored by Korean electronics giant LG in deal worth £4m-a-year

LG's previous football sponsorships have included Bayer Leverkusen and Fulham (pictured)

LG's previous football sponsorships have included Bayer Leverkusen, Fulham, Boca Juniors and pre-season tournaments.

The Ladbrokes deal was terminated in June, only one season into a four-year agreement.

The FA board decided it was no longer appropriate for the ruling body to have a betting sponsorship when FA rules prevent anyone professionally involved in the sport from gambling on football.

Arsenal are the current FA holders after they defeated Chelsea in last season's Wembley final

BBC Breakfast and Football Focus presenter Dan Walker doesn't work on Sundays because of his religious beliefs. But they don't stop him being very active on the commercial front every other day of the week. 

Walker, who famously promoted Oliver Sweeney shoes on Twitter, also regularly uses social media to plug Nike. 

He hosted a partners event for Nike last Saturday night at St George's Park, involving England manager Gareth Southgate and England women players Jill Scott and Carly Telford.

No sooner have Everton announced their shirt sleeve sponsorship with Rovio Entertainment's digital games app Angry Birds franchise than spoof shirts have appeared with a picture of Coleen Rooney above the 'Angry Birds' name - another dig at husband Wayne Rooney's drink-driving escapade.

Everton announced a new shirt-sleeve sponsor in games app Angry Birds earlier this month

Durham felt it necessary to put out a press release about county chairman Ian Botham not attending their most important cricket match of the season - the T20 international against the West Indies during which part of a stand collapsed. 

That will do nothing for the Riverside's chances of hosting international cricket from 2020. Botham's absence, according to the county, was due to a 'Beefy Foundation charity event which had been in the calendar for 12 months and raised £200,000 last year'. 

Strangely, the fund-raiser is not listed in the foundation website's list of upcoming, current or previous Beefy events.

Ian Botham was an absentee at Durham when they hosted England's T20 with the Windies

If the Ladbrokes cap fits

Betting company William Hill had the bright idea of appointing last year's winning jockey, George Baker, who is recovering from career-threatening injuries following a fall in the St Moritz frozen lake race, as an ambassador for their first year of sponsorship of the St Leger. 

Unfortunately for William Hill, the main picture used was of Baker wearing the flat cap presented to all Leger-winning jockeys - branded by previous backer and arch rivals Ladbrokes.

Olympic champion spinmeister Mike Lee is hanging up his city-bid boots after helping Paris win the 2024 Games. 

That follows his successes with London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 and the PyeongChang Winter Games in 2018. 

Lee wanted to go out on a high but will continue to work on other projects and his decision doesn't prevent his company Vero becoming involved in future bids.

Paris will host the 2024 Olympics thanks in part to the role played by spinmeister Mike Lee

Premiership rugby side Harlequins have signed one of sport's best PR operators as head of communications - Jamie Fox from British Athletics. 

So Fox's pro-active approach will be sorely missed just when track and field will find it more difficult to maintain its profile following the London World Championships.