n gambling company Dafabet have teamed up with Barclays Premier League side Aston Villa in a two-year deal that sees them become the club’s main shirt sponsor.

Dafabet replace Genting Casinos and will have their logo on the home and away shirts from the start of the 2013-14 season.

Villa’s chief executive Paul Faulkner stated one of the main factors in the deal with Dafabet was their ‘strong willingness’ to work alongside the club’s chosen charity, Acorns, a children’s hospice based in Birmingham.

Dafabet head of sponsorships John Cruces said: “To be associated with one of the oldest and most successful clubs in England will help us achieve our aim of making Dafabet a household name – not just in Asia, where the majority of our players are from, but worldwide.”

The move follows Dafabet’s involvement in Premier League football last season, when they struck up deals to become international betting and gaming partners of Everton and West Bromwich Albion.

Dafabet are based in the Philippines and are a subsidiary of AsianBGE, whose managing director Dimitris Karatzas said: “We live and breathe the game with a passion, and we’re very proud to form a partnership with Aston Villa.”

Bruce Archer