Wijeratna, who previously played a role in London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games before working at another Premier League club, Tottenham Hotspur, has worked for Baku 2015 since January last year.

He is expected to work for Baku 2015 for another two months before officially leaving.

In that time, he has been responsible for 14 sponsorship deals and announced broadcasting rights deals covering 47 countries.

Several key nations however, including Great Britain, are still to confirm such deals with the Games due to open in the Azerbaijani capital on June 12. 

Another sponsor still has to be recruited by Baku 2015 to fulfill its roster of eight top-tier partners, although it is claimed "advanced discussions" are taking place with several companies. 

Baku 2015 chief executive Simon Clegg claimed that the loss of Wijeratna would be minimal. 

"With 122 days left until the Opening Ceremony most of Charlie's work is done," Clegg told insidethegames. 

"He has already delivered most of the big ticket items.

"The one piece of the jigsaw remaining is ticketing and plans are very well advanced for that.

"I'm delighted for Charlie - it's a great opportunity for him to return to his first love, football."

English Premier League Aston Villa will offer Charlie Wijeratna a different sort of challenge he has faced promoting the first-ever European Games in Baku ©Getty Images


Wijeratna will have responsibility for all areas of revenue generation at Aston Villa and will oversee marketing and media operations.

"I am delighted to be returning to football at such a storied club as Aston Villa and I'm really excited about the challenge and the opportunity in front of us," Wijeratna said today.

"I am particularly looking forward to working with a senior management team that understands the opportunity that the Premier League's global television reach offers clubs today.

"Aston Villa is one of England's great football clubs and I am keen to make my contribution to developing the club's commercial revenues while respecting its heritage and values."

Wijeratna will be hoping his second spell in the Premier League works out more successfully than his first following his sacking at Tottenham by chairman Daniel Levy after only 15 months for failing to generate enough business. 

"Charlie has valuable experience in football from his time at Tottenham and has a proven track record in revenue generation at both London 2012 and now the Baku 2015 European Games," said Aston Villa chief executive Tom Fox.

"He knows how to build highly effective teams and develop winning partnerships with top global brands.

"Under his leadership we expect our commercial operation to generate the revenue that a club the size of Aston Villa is capable of."

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