The controversy of moving drinks away is still not cooling down. It is still a hot topic due to actions and statements of Players, Sponsors, and UEFA officials. Now, UEFA has Warned Teams of fine or sanction if players keep on moving sponsors’ bottles away. The bottles of sponsors are provided at the news conferences, and lately, there has been a trend to remove bottles away which are strategically placed to show to the viewers. Will Players like Ronaldo and Pogba follow UEFA and Team management orders? Time will tell.
UEFA has given a warning to teams of fine: Why they had to do this in the first place?
The video of Ronaldo moving Coca-Cola drinks went viral. Ronaldo in a conference removed two Coca-Cola bottles and shouted Agua (the Portuguese word for water). This video of snubbing Coca-Cola bottles spread like a wildfire. Due to this, Coca-Cola shares dropped significantly and the company suffered a loss of 4 Billion dollars. Understandably, one of the biggest sponsors of UEFA Euro 2020 wasn’t happy.
After that, France Midfielder Pogba moved a Heineken beer bottle away. Pogba is a practicing Muslim & Alcohol and its advertisement is forbidden in Islam. However, Heineken advertises its beer as zero-percent Alcohol. Pogba was attending a conference after being called Player of the match in which France defeated Germany 1–0.
After Pogba, Italy player Manuel Locatelli joined the trend and replaced the Coca-Cola bottle with a water bottle. All these actions didn’t sit well with Sponsors. Therefore, UEFA had to intervene.
UEFA Euro 2020 Director Martin Kallen warning statements:
UEFA in a statement said that they have reminded all 24 teams to oblige to the contract they have signed. The association has regulations signed by participating federations. Partnerships are integral to the delivery of the tournament and ensuring the development across Europe.
EURO 2020 Tournament Director Martin Kallen further said, “Disciplinary action is a possibility.” However, Kallen clarified that UEFA won’t directly ban players. But UEFA will definitely let Team management do necessary actions against such players.
Kallen said this act of players is causing loss to our sponsors. The tournament became possible due to sponsors. If sponsors keep witnessing loss due to player’s actions, then finding a sponsor will become difficult in the future. These sponsors are the financial backbone of any tournament and without them, no tournament can be held.
Importance of Sponsors for UEFA:
There are 12 Top-tier sponsors of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. Coca-Cola and Heineken are two of them. Due to these sponsors, the total tournament revenue is almost Two Billion euros- up from 483 Million euros from 10 partners in Euro 2016 tournament.
24 National federations in six groups are competing at Euro 2020 tournament. All these federations will share 37.1 Million Euros in Prize money which typically aids to pay bonuses to players. Champions will get almost 34 Million Euros from UEFA. So, it is understandable that UEFA has Warned Teams of fine or other Possible “Penalties” if Players keep “disrespecting” sponsors.
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