CRISTIANO RONALDO caused a stir by moving two Coca-Cola bottles during a Euro 2020 press conference – but he isn’t the first professional athlete to remove a sponsor’s product from the view of cameras.
The Juventus hitman made headlines last week by removing the bottles of Coke ahead of a pre-match press conference.
Ronaldo, 36, then picked up a bottle of water and shouted: “Agua.”
The Portuguese’s actions made waves across the globe – so much so Coca-Cola’s share values dropped a staggering £2.84billion.
But the ex-Man Utd man isn’t the first athlete to stick to event sponsors.
A few days removed from Ronaldo’s stunt, footage of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya removing cans of Monster Energy started doing the rounds on social media.
Adesanya first removed an empty can of the energy drink during a press conference in Australia in February 2019.
As he removed it, the Nigerian-born Kiwi asked: “Why don’t they fill these up? It’s silly.”
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The clip also showed The Last Stylebender throwing away another empty can before speaking at the UFC 243 post-fight press conference.
But unlike his previous removal, Adesanya didn’t say a word.
The fan favourite took a more subtle approach in the UFC 253 post-fight press conference, opting to cover a can up with his belt.
But he wasn’t so sly during the UFC 259 pre-fight presser, in which cameras caught him picking up a can and putting it on the floor.
Adesanya has yet to explain why he repeatedly removes the cans of Monster.
But one thing is for sure, his actions don’t have anywhere near the same effect on Monsters’ share value as Ronaldo’s.
Several Euro 2020 stars have followed in Ronaldo’s suit, with Italy and France midfielders Manuel Locatelli and Paul Pogba removing bottles of Coke and Heineken respectively.
But UEFA has warned players they risk being fined if they move any items from the tournament’s sponsors from the view of cameras.
Euro 2020 tournament director Martin Kalle, said: “It is important because the revenues of the sponsors are important for the tournament and for European football.
“We are never fining players directly from the Uefa side, we will do this always through the participating national association and then they could look if they will go further to the player, but we are not going directly for the moment to the player.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
