Toulouse protest against ban on gambling advertising

Ligue 1 club Toulouse protested against a French ban on advertising for gambling by wearing the slogan "???.com, censored" on their shirts during a game at Olympique Marseille on Sunday.

It replaced the name of Toulouse's shirt sponsors, online casino and poker firm 888.com.

The French Professional Football League (LFP) banned its clubs last week from advertising any form of gambling and online betting.

On Saturday, Monaco were forced to remove advertising boards for online betting firm bwin.com before the kickoff of their Ligue 1 match against Le Mans.

An LFP official told Monaco the boards had to be removed or the match would not start.

"Monaco insist on the fact that the decision to remove all advertising for bwin was imposed by the LFP as a condition for the match to start," Monaco said.

The LFP ban came after the two joint chief executives of Austrian online betting firm bwin.com Interactive Entertainment were placed under investigation for alleged violation of French gaming laws.

Gambling is a state monopoly in France and online betting firms are banned from seeking clients on French territory.

Bwin are the shirt sponsors of Monaco and have sponsorship deals with other Ligue 1 clubs.