AN FA hearing later this month will decide whether women footballers will be banned from wearing their new sponsorship logo.

Chester-le-Street Ladies Football Club thought its funding worries were over when they received sponsorship from author Keith Brown in the form of 20 tracksuits and the promise of more funding, depending on the success of his forthcoming book.

But the tracksuit's logo No BollX, taken from the title of the self-development book, has caused a few raised eyebrows.

Now Durham County Football Association has written to the club, telling them they must have permission to advertise anything with a logo or trademark of any nature.

Until the FA meets later this month to decide whether to grant permission, players cannot wear the tracksuits to matches.

Mr Brown said he was consulting his solicitor over the possibility that the tracksuits, which cost him £1,300, could be banned.

He said: "The girls are just as committed to football as the men are, but they cannot get any sponsorship locally from businesses.

"Last year, they were struggling to buy leather footballs. I pushed this through because they really needed the kit."

Coach Pauline Godward said if the FA ruled against them, they could also miss out on more money from spin-offs. The more money the book makes, the more Mr Brown has pledged to plough back into to the club.

She said they had also been inundated with inquiries from people wanting to know where they could buy the sponsored kit.

Mrs Godward said: "People are already asking, 'can we have that on our T-shirts?'"

Nobody at Durham County FA was available for comment yesterday .