Why Aston Villa had to change their shirts for the Champions League - with Celtic set to follow

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UEFA shirt regulations mean clubs need to be wary about what they display on their kits while playing in Europe

Amadou Onana of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between BSC Young Boys and Aston Villa FC at Stadion Wankdorf on September 17, 2024 in Bern, Switzerland.
(Image credit: Christian Kaspar-Bartke - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Clubs playing across Europe this season will once again need to make sure they stay in line with shirt sponsorship regulations.

The opening night of the Champions League provided two examples: Aston Villa and Stuttgart both had to make changes to their shirts for their games away to Young Boys and Real Madrid respectively on Tuesday evening.

Villa replaced their usual Betano front-of-shirt sponsor to the logo of children's hospice and charity Acorns for their three-goal victory in Bern, while Stuttgart were sponsorless as they lost 3-1 in Madrid. The German side usually wear the logo of betting company Winamax.

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UEFA regulations spell out shirt sponsorship changes

The changes were because UEFA rules and the different rules on advertising in different countries come to bear on what clubs can and can't wear on their shirts.

There is a blanket ban on tobacco and 'strong alcohol' in UEFA competition, with the latter defined as ' any beverage with an alcohol content of more than 15% abv unless the applicable domestic legislation sets a lower limit'.

Teams must also respect and bans or restrictions set by the country in which a match is taking place - and in these cases, both Switzerland and Spain have banned gambling adverts, including shirt sponsors.

Deniz Undav of VfB Stuttgart celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between Real Madrid CF and VfB Stuttgart at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on September 17, 2024 in Madrid, Spain.

Stuttgart also had to get rid of a sponsor (Image credit: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Premier League clubs voluntarily agreed last year that they would no longer accept gambling companies as front-of-shirt sponsors starting from the 2026/27 season, but for now they remain popular in the English top flight.

Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers all have betting companies as their main shirt sponsors this season.

Villa are the only one of those 11 who will play in UEFA competition this season. Scotland's lone Champions League representative, Celtic, will have to remove Dafabet from their shirts when they visit Italy to take on Atalanta next month.

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Steven Chicken
Steven Chicken

Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.