- Bournemouth confirmed in July that bj88 would become the club’s new shirt sponsor
- bj88 is a gambling company that seems to offer chances on COCK FIGHTS
- Some Bournemouth supporters are now demanding answers from the club
A Premier League club has angered its fans by signing a shirt sponsorship deal with a bookmaker that appears to be offering bets on COCKFIGHTS.
AFC Bournemouth signed a two-year, multi-million pound deal with little-known betting company bj88 this summer in what the company described as a “record-breaking” deal, meaning the online bookmaker’s logo will be seen by millions of football fans around the world.
However, the deal has sparked anger from its own supporters and animal rights activists after it emerged that bj88 offers customers the opportunity to bet on live cockfighting, which is illegal in much of the world but allowed in Cambodia.
In this bloody ‘sport’, knives are attached to the ankles of roosters. The roosters are excited to attack and kill each other, while spectators place bets on the outcome.
The League Against Cruel Sports said: ‘Cockfighting is a cruel, bloody sport involving enormous animal suffering and was thankfully banned in the UK almost 200 years ago.
Bournemouth’s shirts for the 2024-25 season will feature the betting shop’s logo ‘bj88’
‘AFC Bournemouth should do the right thing and distance itself from the cruel world of animal fighting and cut all ties with companies that promote this cruelty.’
The claims first emerged earlier this week in an article by Josimar Football.
A website branded bj88 was found to contain explicit videos of live cockfighting, with links to bj88’s Vietnamese homepages, where one can bet on cockfighting.
Although Bournemouth have not publicly commented on the allegations in the article, sources say the club claims it paid for a professional company to carry out due diligence and found no issues.
But a simple search on the internet and social media turns up web pages that appear to link to bj88. The rules of cockfighting are explained and it is described as a “mix of strategy, skill and excitement.”
In a statement, AFC Bournemouth supporters’ organisation The Cherries Trust said: “The club has informed us that the [original] ‘The article contains many untruths and we urge them to publicly explain what they think of BJ88’s activities and why they still agree to BJ88 being our front-of-shirt sponsor for the next two seasons.’
Two birds fighting each other in a cockfight in Thailand. There is no indication that this particular event is in any way related to bj88
According to a source within the club, bj88 is consulting lawyers on the matter because the domain and country where the cockfighting website is hosted differ from their own.
It is believed that they will claim that their website has been copied by criminal gangs and that the cockfighting opportunities offered have nothing to do with them.
But one Bournemouth fan said: ‘That feels like an escape.’
