Shropshire Star

Poll: Should the FA Cup be branded with sponsors' names?

Moves to re-brand the FA Cup, the world's oldest knock-out football competitio,n as the Emirates FA Cup has been labelled as "commercialisation gone mad" by former sports minister Richard Caborn. What do you think?

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The Football Association insists no sponsorship deal has been finalised for the FA Cupbut a proposal is expected to be submitted to a board meeting which is being held today.

The controversy surrounds re-naming the competition as the Emirates FA Cup - previously its main sponsorship deal was referred to as the FA Cup with Budweiser.

The FA says all the money it raises is ploughed back into grass-roots football, but Caborn says the governing body should protect the name of the FA Cup and go back to the drawing board.

Caborn, who is also on the Football Foundation board of directors, told Press Association Sport: "This is absolutely crazy. It's commercialisation gone mad. You have the greatest name in football that has so many memories for so many people and you are just selling it off.

"It is the FA's greatest brand and they should protect it. For people like me, who walked down Wembley Way with grandad, the FA Cup is something very special.

"It is not like the Premier League - it's something different to people who love football, and to take that away would be mad.

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