Coca-Cola terminates league sponsorship

The Football League is looking for a new title sponsor after announcing that its partnership with Coca-Cola is to end after this season.

The soft drinks company has been the main sponsor of the league since 2004, but will now reduce its involvement with the competition.

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola refused to rule out the possibility of the company becoming an official partner of the Football Association, which is currently looking for a new title sponsor for the FA Cup.

"Both the Football League and Coca-Cola Great Britain have valued their six-year relationship and both parties are committed to continuing discussions about an ongoing commercial partnership," read a joint statement from the Football League and Coca-Cola Great Britain.

"Coca-Cola Great Britain has invested heavily in the Football League since 2004 and created innovative, high profile promotional campaigns to raise awareness of the Football League and its 72 clubs."

The Football League added that it is "presently in discussions with a number of companies about the title sponsorship opportunity".

E.ON is ending its sponsorship deal with the FA Cup at the end of the season. E.ON's four-year deal was understood to be worth £32m, which English football's governing body will be keen to recoup.

The betting firm bwin has been linked with FA Cup sponsorship and the Austrian company has made it known to the FA that it would consider a bid to replace E.ON.