An announcement by Everton Football Club that it was suspending all commercial sponsorship deals with three Russian firms will have “no material impact” on the build of its new Bramley Moore Dock stadium.
The club confirmed on 2 March that it was suspending all sponsorship arrangements with USM, Megafon and Yota with immediate effect.
USM is owned by Uzbekistan-born billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is thought to have ties with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin. Usmanov was added to the UK’s sanctions list on Thursday (3 March) over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Usmanov’s companies struck a deal to sponsor Everton, which is owned by British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri, starting with an agreement in 2017 to rename the club’s training ground to USM Finch Farm.
In January 2020, USM signed a deal with Everton essentially granting it first refusal on the stadium naming rights at Bramley-Moore Dock, with a £30m one-time payment made to the club.
The club is now expected to remove all USM branding. But a source close to the development of the new stadium said there would be “no material impact” on the stadium’s construction and that USM was not involved in the build in any form.
The £500m stadium is being built by Laing O’Rourke. Piling work for the foundations has already started, with work on the superstructure due to start this spring/summer. The club is scheduled to move out of its Goodison Park home and into the new stadium for the start of the 2024-25 season.
Everton FC has been contacted for comment.
