By Jess McCabe | 10 October 2007, 17:16

The Italian football team Trento Calcio 1921 has accepted sponsorship from a local brothel, reports Sky and Spiegel International.

The team, based in Trento, in northern Italy, has swapped its reputation for a mere €10,000. Sky says:

One offer is Lea, a long haired 32-year-old brunette described as an ” exciting girl from Austria” who is seen topless, while another is 24-year-old Elisabeth, who is said to have “wonderful eyes, wonderful body”.

According to the website - which by mid morning yesterday had crashed due to overuse - the girls charge 180 euros (£130) an hour - and all major credit cards are accepted.

The local councillor in charge of sport, Iva Berasi, is not amused. According to Sky (who patronisingly say she “stormed”), she said:

If I am offended I can imagine that the women of the town must also feel as angry and as offended as I do. I hope that Trentino reconsider this agreement and remind them that they also receive council funds as well.

According to Spiegel, a “compromise” has apparently been reached - the brothel’s logo still appears on the team’s website, but it no longer links through to the website. Doesn’t sound like much of a solution to me - surely whatever the Italian equivalent of the FA is should step in?

(Thanks to Carrie, of Kickster and our recent feature on poor media coverage of the women’s World Cup, for the heads up.)