Premier League to rebrand logo next season as fans compare decision to remove lion to death of the famous Cecil

The Premier League will remove the lion from its official logo when the main sponsorship deal with Barclays concludes at the end of the season

The lion will be removed from the Premier League logo (Getty Images)

The Premier League is set to ditch the iconic lion from its logo for next season, and football fans are not happy about it with some Twitter users comparing it to the death of Cecil the lion.

With Barclays main sponsorship deal set to come to an end at the conclusion of this season, the Premier League has elected not to negotiate a new deal and will go it alone without a main back from 2016/17. Instead, the top flight will look to utilise a number of sponsorship deals with secondary rights partners to generate money.

According to The Sun, Premier League officials have decided that the lion will be removed from the logo and replaced with a new image that will be drawn up by a creative agency.

Cecil the lion was killed last summer (AP)

Having first sponsored the Premier League in 2001, Barclays decided last year not to renew their deal with the top flight over fears that the fee would be significantly more due to the record £5.1bn TV broadcasting deal signed by Sky Sports and BT Sport, which will begin from next season. Barclays last renewed their agreement in 2012 in a £120m three-year deal, which saw an increase of nearly 50 per cent on the previous £82m contract.

A number of Twitter users have reacted badly to the announcement though, with some jesting that the lion’s absence is as devastating news as the death of the famous lion Cecil, who was killed by American big-game hunter Walter Palmer last summer while others are genuinely upset at the planned removal of the logo.

While the loss of the Premier League lion will not have too much of an effect across the globe, the death of Cecil the lion caused mass outrage in 2015. Cecil was wounded with an arrow after being hunted by Palmer, before the male lion was allegedly tracked for 40 hours before being shot at close range by a rifle.

A number of celebrities including Ricky Gervais and Cara Delevinge joined conservationists and politicians in speaking out against the killing.