Cricket: Vodafone will end its sponsorship of the English cricket team when the current four-year deal runs out in January 2010. It has also been suggested the world's biggest mobile phone company is considering a similar decision with regards its involvement with soccer's Champions League.
Vodafone and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement today that the current four-year sponsorship agreement would conclude at the end of the winter tour of South Africa in January 2010, ending a deal reported to be worth £4 million (€4.5 million).
The contract will remain in place for next year's Ashes Series.
The ECB said it fully respected Vodafone's decision and added it would be looking for a new partner after its 12-year association with the mobile phone group.
"As part of an ongoing strategic review of our sponsorship portfolio, we have decided not to renew this sponsorship agreement," said Ian Shepherd, Vodafone UK's consumer director.
"We remain fully committed to the successful conclusion of the sponsorship at the end of the winter tour of South Africa and we look forward to an exciting summer ahead with the Ashes," he added.
Last month Vodafone announced plans to cut costs in the region of £1billion (€1.1 billion) due to increased competition and the rising cost of raw materials.
England will take on India in the second Test, which gets underway in Mohali from Friday, after they lost the opening Test earlier this week.