Everton have started to remove all branding connected to Alisher Usmanov firms from the club’s Goodison Park ground ahead of tonight’s FA Cup tie against Boreham Wood.
The ECHO revealed yesterday that the club were looking to immediately remove USM, MegaFon and Yota branding from Goodison after suspending all commercial ties with all three companies.
Everton announced on Wednesday afternoon that they had suspended all commercial ties with the firms with immediate effect after coming under increasing pressure to do so following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.
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USM, owned by Usmanov - a long-term friend of Farhad Moshiri - first entered into an agreement with the Blues in 2017 which saw the club's training ground named USM Finch Farm.
Numerous deals have followed with affiliated companies, but all have now been suspended due to the Uzbekistan-born billionaire's ties with Vladimir Putin.
As well as branding being removed from inside and outside of Goodison, the LED advertising boards around the outside of the pitch will also no longer feature anything from USM, MegaFon or Yota related.
Wherever the removal of branding cannot be completed in time for tonight's match, the club will endeavour to cover up logos and other advertising as best they can.
Tonight's programme will also not feature any USM branding throughout the pages or on the front cover, which have been prevalent for a number of years.
Away from Goodison Park there are also set to be immediate changes to the club’s first-team training kits, which have Megafon as a shirt sleeve sponsor.
Everton Women also have Megafon as their main shirt sponsor, and Yota as their sleeve sponsor, but last night played without a sponsor on their shirts in their 1-0 win over Aston Villa.
USM also signed an agreement with Everton back in January 2020 which essentially granted them first refusal over stadium naming rights at Bramley-Moore Dock.
A one-time payment of £30m was made to the club, with the company holding the right to take up an option on naming the ground in the future if they saw fit.
The ECHO understands this agreement has been suspended for the time-being, with no decision on stadium naming rights forthcoming as things stand, and a decision over that will be made in the future.
