The reason why Leicester City youngster Jeremy Monga couldn’t wear a shirt sponsor has been explained following their 3-0 loss to Newcastle United.
On Monday evening, Newcastle United dominated Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, winning the game 3-0.
A brace from Jacob Murphy in the opening 10 minutes of the match followed by a third goal from former Leicester star Harvey Barnes sealed an easy three points for the visitors, keeping their hopes of Champions League football alive.
But perhaps one of the most notable moments came late in the match as Leicester brought youngster Monga on to the pitch in a kit notably different to his teammates.
As Monga came onto the pitch in the 74th minute of the match, he became the second youngest player in Premier League history at the age of 15 years and 271 days, after only Arsenal star Ethan Nwaneri who made his debut at 15 years and 181 days old.
When the young midfielder came onto the pitch to play on the right wing, fans quickly noticed that his kit looked different to his teammates, as the logo of the shirt sponsor was completely absent, with Mongo instead wearing a shirt fronted solely by the club and Adidas logos.
The reason for this is, due to his age, with Premier League rules declaring that no player under the age of 18 can promote gambling.
Leicester City’s shirts are sponsored by BC.GAME is an online gaming platform which features a casino that uses cryptocurrency, meaning that Monga’s shirt couldn’t display the sponsor’s logo.
As is that case with several other Premier League clubs sponsored by a gambling website, Leicester City’s under-18 teams all have different sponsors to their first-team counterparts.
Image: Getty
Monga lined up alongside Leicester legend Jamie Vardy who, at 38 years old, is 23 years older than his teammate, meaning that Monga was only three when Vardy joined Leicester back in 2012.
The England U16 international was just six when the Foxes amazingly lifted the Premier League title in 2016.
Speaking about Monga last week, Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy said: ““He’s developing really well and you can see how good he is.
“I also mentioned the situation still as a 15-year-old, with school, and with the possibility to have him around the team, it’s limited.”
