June 15, (THEWILL)- Cristiano Ronaldo, superstar Portugal and Juventus forward, known for his extreme professionalism, could not stand seeing two bottles of Coca-Cola in front of him, strategically placed as a sponsor promotional material, as he sat for his Press Conference on Monday.
The team captain of Portugal and five-time Ballon d’Or winner appeared bemused when he took his seat, together with the national team coach, Fernando Santos, and spotted the bottles of Coca-Cola in front of him.
The 36-year-old Portuguese forward rocked back and forth in his chair before he decided to pick up the two Coke bottles and slid them away from his view. Having swiftly moved them away from himself, he proceeded to lift a bottle of water in the air and appeared to say “agua,” which is Portuguese for “water.
Ronaldo is set to become the first player to compete at five Euros and has previously spoken about his dislike of soft drinks and junk food especially in relation to his son.
Recently, he was quoted as saying, “I’m tough with my son. Sometimes he drinks Coca Cola and Fanta, he eats crisps and he knows I don’t like it.”
However, Coca-Cola has partnered with Euro 2020 organisers UEFA as part of its sponsorship of the European competition. And, it is common practice for the sponsorship contract to include the placement of brands in areas of high visibility especially at Press meetings that have high spread.
The reaction of the Coca-Cola company will be an interesting bit to anticipate and UEFA might have to step in with a statement to that effect when the sponsors file a complaint about the action of the star, whose personal preferences are not expected to clash with sponsorship material.
Portugal are in Group F, which we has been christened the “Group of Death” as it features national teams from Hungary, and World Cup winners of 2014 and 2018, Germany and France respectively.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
