A former sponsor of Charlton Athletic has turned its back on the club and is now supporting protesting fans.

Axis Europe plc ended their commercial link with Charlton in 2015 and have now made a “four-figure contribution” to the Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD).

The firm will act as CARD’s “official matchday sponsor” for this weekend’s final home game of the season against Burnley, when fans plan to once again step up their efforts to remove Roland Duchatelet.

CARD say the company previously sponsored the players’ tunnel at the Valley and provided a £15k refurbishment of the boardroom free of charge under the former owners.

However, Duchatelet’s running of the club has ensured they will no longer support the club.

Axis chief executive and lifelong Charlton fan, John Hayes, said: “I’m not prepared to do anything for the current regime.

“We used to be everyone’s second favourite club. Now we’re just a joke. As a business, you couldn’t mess it up more than this if you had deliberately tried.”

A CARD spokesperson said in a statement: “We continue to talk to the club’s current and former sponsors and we know that others are also deeply unhappy with the regime.

“We are very grateful to John and to Axis for their financial support this weekend and with former directors and players also expressing their unhappiness it’s yet another indication for the outside world that the wider Charlton family is united in opposition to the current board.

“The regime is isolated and it’s time the owner got the message that he will never win back the trust of the majority of fans. The only way forward is for him to sell the club.”

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